#his death felt a bit unnecessary if the story was planned to continue after 6

[hidingoutbackstage]

Okay, you’re sad that the character died. I get it. But do you know why they died? Did it serve a greater narrative purpose? Was it important to the story? Was it important to the character? Was it important to other characters around them? You can bring people back in fanfiction all you want but it’s always good to acknowledge why they died in the first place

[aoitrinity]

Why Do I Have to Feel Like a Fucking Conspiracy Theorist -- OR -- How I Find a Semblance of Peace on Sunday Night

I’m also going to start this out with a GIANT DISCLAIMER.

I am about to theorize about what may have happened to the SPN finale. I have absolutely no insider knowledge. I am merely speculating here based on the panels and a bunch of Twitter and Tumblr posts that I have been reading over the last few days. If you are not in a good place to read such things, TURN BACK PLEASE. Go take care of yourself and your mental health. You and your feelings are valid and deserve to be handled gently right now.

Additionally, if you are here to give me shit for being unhappy with the ending, please walk away as well. I am here to reach out and share my feelings with people who might be struggling to make sense of something that upset some of us in very deep-seated ways. I am not here to bother you or critique you or tell you that you’re lesser because you liked the ending. If you felt it was good, then go enjoy it.

Long-ass post beneath the cut, everyone.

Alrighty folks...I debated whether or not to do this because I have been spiraling down the hell that is the SPN finale since Thursday. The travesty of what happened to our show--to this beloved show that seemed to have been so perfectly and precisely written for at least four years that it had basically already paved its own tarmac on which to land its plane and we all thought we knew exactly what we were going to get. And then we didn’t. We had a nigh Cas-less and entirely Eileen-less ending. We had no goodbye between Cas and Jack. We had Dean dying young after finally finding his freedom, only to ascend to heaven with no one but Bobby. We had the weird, weird, weird incest-y death scene. We had the bridge crane shot thing because...sure. You do you, Robert Singer.

It was so terrible, so truly awful, and I couldn’t seem to square any of it with anything we had known going in. I tossed and turned and cried and didn’t eat or sleep all weekend. I spent hours just reloading tumblr and twitter, going to the Misha panel, reading and reading and listening and trying to figure out what the fucking hell is going on because I needed to know exactly where to direct my anger. And after a fuckton of talking with @winchester-reload, I think we have at least a very plausible theory about what happened here--I’m laying it out below as much for my own peace of mind as anything else, because otherwise all of these thoughts are going to continue to spin around in my head for weeks and I won’t be able to do jack shit.

Now to start off, unfortunately I do think Dean was slated to die from the beginning of this season. I don’t know WHY they thought that was the best way to go, and I wish they had listened to Jensen on this one. Part of me wonders if it was an order from on high based on the discussion between Becky and Chuck earlier this season--the writers knew it wasn’t a great choice, but they were trying to signal to us that we should feel free to write our own endings to the story because they’d be better (I can wax poetic on the signs of why many of the writers probably wanted Dean to live, but that’s another post). I’m not defending that choice by any means, just laying it out there that I think they didn’t necessarily all want to kill Dean like they did.

However, what I THINK I can explain now is what happened with Misha and why we got so jerked around with Cas’s story. Consider what we know (I can’t immediately source all of it, but I did my best):

At the end of episode 15x19, Lucifer has been returned to the Empty after being killed AGAIN. He talks with Cas. Maybe harasses him a bit about Dean, idk. But then...Jack shows up. New God Jack. And he picks up Cas and pulls him out of the Empty, leaving Lucifer behind, because seriously. Fuck that guy (also leaving behind his abusive father is character growth for Jack, so yay for that).

-Misha was contracted to film 15 episodes this season. He was only in 14.

-Misha told Michael Sheen he had to go back to film 1.5 episodes after the shutdown in March. (Starts at 6:13)

-Misha was in Vancouver during filming of the finale.

-Mark P said at Darklight Con that the last scene he filmed was with Alex and Misha (and Mark P was only in episode 19).

-Misha implied that he was present for various filming moments, including Dean’s death (start at 35:15), and said that it felt like a “mini-reunion.”

-Various sources have mentioned that Jimmy Novak was supposed to be in the finale.

-After episode 18, Stands tweeted a fan who was angered and hurt by Cas's death that they could talk about the “bury the gays” issue after the finale aired.

-In episode 19 we know there were takes of the parking lot scene where the only thing fans observing could hear was Dean yelling “CAS” at Chuck (fuck I can’t find this one right now, but it’s definitely out there)

-Also in episode 19, we had a very strange, awkward montage at the end of the episode.

-In episode 20, we know there were a FUCKTON of missing scenes

-We also had no opening montage, but three other separate montages.

-Carry on My Wayward Son was played TWICE, back-to-back at the end of the episode.

-Episode 20 was shorter than normal and had surprisingly little dialogue. The pacing was VERY strange.

-The cast and crew has been almost completely silent about the finale since it came out. When they have spoken, it has been with an awkward excuse of “Uh...COVID?”

-Samantha Ferris has specifically noted that, despite the Harvelle’s being back in play and a big heaven reunion having been planned pre-COVID, neither she nor Chad Lindberg received any such invitation to return.

-Cas and Dean POP Funko figures were pictured together in a replica of Harvelle’s in 15x04.

NOW with all of this in mind (and I’m probably missing some stuff too because there is so much--feel free to add on to that list), please bear with me because here is what I think we were SUPPOSED to get POST-COVID (after it was determined that the reunion couldn’t happen because of the virus):

In episode 20, we start with our NORMAL OPENING MONTAGE, like always. It traces everything that happened during the season. We are reminded of Cas. The confession. Rowena. Eileen. Jack. Billie, God, the Empty, all of it. 

Things then follow along in the episode where they did up until Dean dies and wakes up in heaven. After his conversation with Bobby, he drives off to find Cas (who, in the script, was listed as “Jimmy Novak” in order to protect against script leaks--who wouldn’t want to do their best to avoid spoilers about the finale with the wrapping of a fifteen-year show?). He does indeed find Cas. We get Dean’s end of the confession. Hell, maybe we even get a kiss. And then Dean sets up his new heaven home in the recreated Harvelle’s. Maybe Cas even fucking moves in. 

Years pass. We get Sam having his life on Earth (still can’t explain why they cut Eileen and couldn’t even have Sam signing vaguely to the blurry brunette in the background; if anyone wants to take that on, go for it). Eventually, Cas tells Dean that it’s almost Sam’s time. Dean takes Baby and goes to meet Sam at the bridge. The cover of Carry on My Wayward Son plays during this much shorter sequence. End of episode.

But that’s not what we got. Instead, much of what I just wrote about was excised from the episode. The remnants were stitched together after shooting had been wrapped. Filler was added in the form of montages and long, unnecessary extra shots to get the episode to something approaching a reasonable length. 

But why? Why would they spend all that time and money and quarantining on Misha, only to almost completely cut him out of the finale? I struggled with why the fuck the CW would want this mammoth show to go down as the greatest queerbait in TV history when they had the chance to do something truly beautiful and monumental with it? It couldn’t just be sheer homophobia, right? Well, I think that factored into it, my friends, but here is where my head is at right now.

It was about cold, hard cash.

Now I could be wrong, but this is what I’m thinking at the moment: Supernatural is going off of the air. Supernatural, the CW’s cash cow for fifteen years. Sure there is still money to be made on blu-rays and merchandise and cons...but they need people watching their shows. They need that sweet advertising revenue. And you know what show they have about to premiere? A show that could, potentially, bring with it a chunk of that SPN revenue?

Walker.

And if any of you know anything about the original Walker Texas Ranger, you know that the show was predominantly a show about a very heterosexual white man being very excessively heterosexual. And for SOME REASON over the years, many of the execs at the CW still seem to think that this show, Supernatural, is really attractive to a lot of middle-American white men...whom they desperately want to watch this new show with this guy from Supernatural that they already know.

Now here’s where COVID fucked us. I think Destiel was greenlit by TPTB, at least in SOME form, before COVID. But then the pandemic happened, and they panicked. They got the cut of the last two episodes and watched them in their original, probably queer form. And then, the execs at CW looked at the economy. They looked at their cash cow, about to make its journey to the great beyond. And they looked at this new little calf Walker that they were so desperately worried about. And they made a choice.

They decided that it would be too risky to take the step with Destiel. They were worried about frightening off their ever-so-valuable hetero male demographic with the possibility that a traditionally masculine man in his 40s could be in love with another man in an overt way. It was homophobia mixed with greed, spun up by fear for their revenues because of COVID.

So they called in Singer, possibly Dabb, although I wouldn’t be surprised if they went straight to Singer. They told them that Destiel had to go: executive orders. And the only way to make it go in a way that removed any trace of what had been there was to rewrite what happened to Cas and cut him out from the last two episodes entirely. It was too late to reshoot anything. They had to just cut and stitch and fill with bullshit montages. 

They removed the scene at the end of 19, probably because Cas and Lucifer discussed Dean. All that was left of Misha there was his voice on that fake phone call. They may have cut other things too, but I would bet my life that they cut a scene from the end of the episode and replaced it with that very strange montage. Then they moved onto 20. They cut out every scene with Cas. And left in only two platonic mentions of him, neither made by Dean. They tried to imply that Cas might show up in Dean’s heaven at some point, but that was as far as the editors could go in the time they had. They filled in with montages, awkwardly long shots, anything they could do to fill all of those missing scenes.

And they even had to take the opening montage, because literally everything in it pointed to Cas being there at the end of it all. They wouldn’t be able to leave out his scenes, they were too critical to the season. They couldn’t cut his confession without raising eyebrows. So they cut the whole thing and moved “Carry On My Wayward Son” to one of the newly-added driving montages at the end. Which is why we awkwardly had both songs play back-to-back--again, such a strange choice unless they were out of options and couldn’t exactly buy rights to a new track or compose anything else.

And so we were left with the shadow of the finale that we deserved, that Cas and Dean deserved. We were left without resolution or happiness or words. Bobo told us the most important thing about happiness is just “saying it” and our characters were silenced without anyone ever knowing the truth.

I think the writers might have known and been given the new party line that “Misha never filmed, he couldn’t, sorry, it was COVID, no one’s fault!” But I don’t think most of the cast even knew it had happened until they watched the finale on Thursday with us (though they might have been confused why the bit from 15x19 was sliced, they could reasonably have assumed it was a time thing and also BL episodes don’t make sense anyway). Why do I say that?

Well, first of all, Misha started sending out a bunch of excited texts to fans with some old BTS pictures about an hour before the show started airing on EST. He also wanted his children to see the episode, his YOUNG children. Why would he show them such a traumatic episode if their Dad wasn’t in it? What if it was because he wanted them to witness what was going to be a monumental moment in queer television history that their DAD got to be a part of? And then that was all dashed.

Which is why I think the cast and crew went almost completely radio silent the next day. I don’t think they knew. And based on how they have been acting on social media since then, I think many of them are absolutely furious, but they have been silenced because of NDAs, because they want to find work again in a cutthroat industry, because they don’t want to bring down the hellfire of Warner Brothers Entertainment upon themselves. So the most we have gotten is a little acknowledgement from the MERCHANDISING COMPANY trying to validate our pain (god bless Shirts, she is a LIFESAVER) and a response to my salty tweet about keeping good stuff in the closet from Adam Williams (the VFX coordinator) that seemed to acknowledge the validity of my complaint.

Then there was a scramble behind the scenes, I would bet my life. Talking points were fed to the boys who had panels today, to CE, to all the cast and crew:

Toe the party line. Misha never filmed. This was always about COVID. Do not mention Destiel. Do not mention Dean’s feelings for Cas. Do not promote the Castiel Project or anything that validates the idea that this was anything less than a superb ending.

And that is why we have heard so little from the cast on this front, and what we have heard has been muddled and contradictory. That is why the writers are saying nothing. That is why we have been left adrift.

Now before I close this out, I do want to say that I really, genuinely do not think this was on the writers at all. I feel like they tried to give us the best ending that they could, in a writers room that we know is notorious for splitting along party lines about the overall story (BL and Singer, who have always been about the brothers and their man-pain vs. Dabb and the rest who always seemed to want more for them and for Cas). I think they did everything in their power to at least end with Dean and Cas happy together. If they could give us nothing else, they wanted to give us that. And then the network took it from them. From us. From everyone.

For the sake of fucking money. 

And the WORST PART OF IT ALL, for me, is that in the wake of this disaster, the fans have been left to try and figure out what happened. We have had to wade through a mire of conflicting information in the midst of all of our collective anger and grief over this garbage ending of a show many of us have loved and even relied on for YEARS, all the while wondering if we’re just fucking crazy, if we have all fallen collectively into the hole of conspiracy theories. That hurts ESPECIALLY badly because we have taken so many hits over the years from other groups on social media saying we were crazy for seeing things that weren’t there (especially Destiel), for writing meta and analyzing tropes and believing the evidence of our eyes and ears. The network has made us relive that entire nightmare WHILE processing our grief for a show we wanted so badly to celebrate and which instead we now have to mourn.

So again guys, I cannot prove that this is exactly what happened at all; this is simply my idea of what may have happened. But right now, it’s the most sense I can make from this mess, and to be honest, the act of typing it out has helped me enormously in my processing of it all. I feel like I can see more clearly, like I know where to target my outrage and where to direct empathy. I feel like just fucking maybe, I might be able to do my job tomorrow without bursting into tears at random moments. 

I really hope that this post has helped some of you to, in some small way, process this too. We get through this the way that Misha told us at his panel this morning, the way the writers have told us to do all season long...we throw out the story God gave us and we make it better. We write our characters the happy endings they deserve. 

We save them.

One last thing--if you have not already, please consider channeling your rage into a donation to one of the five causes our fandom has put together to pay tribute to our beloved show and to mourn the ending it should have had:

-The Castiel Project

-Dean Winchester is Love

-Sam Winchester Project

-The National Association of the Deaf

-The Jack Kline Project

[fiveisnumber1]

The Vortex That Takes Me To You - "Me, Lu, and Five Times Two" Side Story

Main story parts:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32

_________________________

"Wait!" Five called out as he tried to hand you the briefcase

It was too late though as Luther pushed him into the vortex to 2019. As Five held the now-defunct half of the briefcase he fell through time for what felt like a matter of seconds before hitting the ground of the courtyard behind the academy. With a giant flash, the spot in the sky where the blue used to be was now gone. From afar the five known living Hargreeves siblings slowly approached the person who dropped from the sky.  Slowly, Five got up from the ground throwing the broken briefcase away as he dusted the dirt and leaves off his clothing. Approaching closer the group looks on in confusion as Klaus asks,

"Does anyone else see a slightly older version of little number Five or is that just me?"

Five took a look down at himself. His suit was too loose now and when he looked at his hands he saw no more wrinkles or signs of old age. There was a leftover puddle nearby from rain that must've occurred early and as he bent over it he saw the version of himself that he had left only moments ago. Bringing a hand up to his face, he stared at his newly youthful reflection.

"I'm young again." He whispered to himself

At the same time that this was happening you were making your way to the florist to pick up flowers that Pogo had ordered. As you walked to the shop you felt that something was wrong. No, not wrong, but different. From behind you, you felt a molecular disturbance and a giant one at that. As you continued to walk to the shop the physical pain grew so much that you had to stop and bend over. It felt like your insides were being torn apart bit by bit. Somehow managing to turn around you felt the direction it was coming from. It was coming from back towards the house. The pain of the disturbance went on for a few more seconds but then abruptly it stopped. Catching your breath, you stood back up but something felt familiar in a way. It was like an odd chill of deja vu but you had never experienced this before. But if the disturbance was coming from the house then the flowers could wait. Reginald didn't deserve flowers anyway. Quickly, you started sprinting back towards the Academy trying to get there as quickly as you could.

Back at the house, the five Hargreeves siblings sat around the kitchen table as they watched the newly returned Five make a sandwich. It had been years since they had last seen him and a lot had changed in that time. Everyone had their own thoughts and feelings on the matter and some were more upset than others. Five wasn't exactly sure what to say to them after all this time. It was quite a complicated situation to be in. Trying to not let his uncertainty show, Five stoically questioned,

"What is the date? The exact date."

The group stays quiet for a second before Vanya states,

"The 24th."

"Of?" Five pressed

"March," Vanya replies

"Good." Five comments

This was exactly the time that he was planning to be here, on the day of his father's funeral. Thank god that man was dead. If he was alive he would never hear the end of it.

"So are we gonna talk about what just happened?" Luther asks

It was no surprise to Five that Luther would speak up. Even after all this time, he was trying to take the lead on things. Instead of responding to his brother, Five puts two slices of bread down on a cutting board and focuses on his desired food item. He hadn't eaten all day and apparently paradox psychosis was a real energy drainer. He needed a second before he was going to explain anything. Standing up, Luther looks down to Five and states firmly,

"It's been 17 years." 

"It's been a lot longer than that." Five replies immediately jumping behind Luther to find marshmallows

"I didn't miss that." Luther comments

While Five looks around the kitchen for the marshmallows, Diego asks accusingly,

"So where'd you go?"

Of course, an accusatory tone. How could Diego not have one? Five could just tell that Diego was upset not because he had disappeared for years but because he was the one that made you disappear for years. If only the siblings cared for each other as much as Diego cared for you, maybe things would be different. Five didn't have time for Diego's older brother shtick though. Jumping back to the table with the marshmallows, Five bluntly replied,

"The future. It's shit by the way."

"Called it!" Klaus exclaims

Five turned towards the refrigerator to get peanut butter for his sandwich, his mind wandering as he thought back to his time in the apocalypse. 45 years. He was so arrogant to think he could time travel. Grabbing the peanut butter jar, Five talks aloud,

"I should've listened to the old man. You know jumping through space is one thing, jumping through time is a toss of the dice."

Unscrewing the lid of the peanut butter jar Five looks up from the sandwich he was making and at his siblings before him. The last time he had seen them all together was as corpses. And before that, they were all still children. It was a lot to take in but he was focused on his task of stopping the apocalypse. He had the information he needed on what caused it, but he needed to find the right time to discuss it with everyone. Keeping a stoic look he tries to deflect his mind to something else by commenting to Klaus,

"Nice dress."

"Oh, Danke," Klaus responds playing with some of the loose straps

As he starts to assemble the sandwich he was making Vanya questions him,

"So how did you get back?"

"In the end, I had to project my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time." Five responds

"That makes no sense," Diego says confused

"Well, it would if you were smarter." Five remarks

Diego angrily stands up and stares down Five attempting to get towards him to attack him. Instead, Luther stands up puts out an arm to hold him back. Honestly, it didn't matter if Luther was there to stop Diego or not. He was all bark and no bite.

"How long were you there?" Luther asks

"45 years." Five states bluntly "Give or take."

Luther and Diego both sit back down in unison. All the siblings stare at their brother with wide eyes in shock at his statement. 45 years?

"So what are you saying? You're 58?" Luther asks

"No. My consciousness is 58. My body is 18 again." Five retorts

With his sandwich put together, Five walks off to the side of the table they all sat around and faces away from his siblings.

"How does that even work?" Vanya inquires

"I used the improper equation when I was forced through time." Five replies

"Improper equation?" Vanya questions

Electing to ignore Vanya's question, Five turns back towards his siblings at the table. There was no reason to explain all that had happened before he came here. It was unnecessary and would probably worry his siblings more than they needed to be, or perhaps even enrage them and there was no way he was going to stop the apocalypse if his siblings weren't willing to work together. Picking up a newspaper detailing the death of his father, Five takes a look at it before commenting unamused,

"Guessed I missed the funeral."

"How did you know about that?" Luther asks

"What part of the future do you not understand." Five remarks to him, his eyes not leaving the paper "Heart failure, huh?"

"Yeah," Diego says

"No," Luther adds

Ah, yes. One and Two still fighting to be the leader of the family as if it hadn't been years since the dissolution of the Umbrella Academy.

"Hmm. Nice to see nothing's changed." Five comments

The Hargreeves looked at their newly returned brother and as he stood there quietly, holding his sandwich he stared back awkwardly at his siblings. The prior self that he left in the '60s said that you would show up when the conversation with his siblings felt over. It felt pretty over right now and there was no sign of you. Five's heart started to race, everything had been laid out for him, and now nothing was going according to plan. Panicked, Five decided it was best to leave. Keeping a serious look on his face he started to walk out of the kitchen.

"Uh, that's it? That's all you have to say?" Allison questioned

"What else is there to say?" Five responded

When he was out of sight of his siblings he once again noticed how his suit didn't fit him properly anymore. He needed to change. Flashing upstairs he looked in the closets of his siblings but was met with academy uniform after academy uniform. Reluctantly, he took an academy uniform from Klaus' closet since it looked like it would fit best and put it on. He stared at himself in the mirror for a bit before deciding to head back downstairs.

Making it back to the house, you looked around, and only felt faint traces of a disturbance. Maybe you were going crazy? Heading through the front door you looked around the foyer and some other rooms on the main floor and upper floors but found no one. Maybe they all got in an argument and left, it's not like they enjoyed being here anyway. Letting out a small sigh you made your way back downstairs to the parlor. Someone would probably show up soon enough. You stood in the doorway for a second and stared at the portrait above the fireplace. You had hated the painting at first, but you tolerated its presence after years of coexisting with it. Carefully, you made your way over to the fireplace and looked up at the portrait that loomed over you. It was nothing like him. No light in his eyes, no cocky smile on his face, no personality. Just an emotionless and unrealistic replication of who he was. You wanted him to come back.

As you stared at his portrait, Five had made his way downstairs and took in what had become of his home. As he approached the parlor he saw a giant portrait of him on the wall and below it stood a familiar figure. Five stopped in his tracks and his heart began to race. This was his (Y/N). Five readjusted his jacket and tie and took in a breath before slowly starting to walk over to you. Hearing footsteps behind you, you stopped looking at the painting and turned to look where they came from. Seeing the figure before you, your eyes went wide with shock as the world around felt like it was slowing down. Carefully, you moved forward towards him almost as if in a trance, worried that if you moved too fast he would vanish. You extended your hand out and Five moved to meet you in the middle. When the two of you were close enough your fingertips lightly brushed his cheek, but you quickly pulled back, shocked by the feeling of something there.

"I think I'm hallucinating again," you whisper

Five reaches out and gently grabs the hand you had retracted. Bringing it closer to him he places it on top of his heart, holding your hand there. You can feel his heart beating rapidly beneath your hand as your own started to catch up to match his. You looked up at his face and gazed into his eyes. Tears prick your own as you softly ask,

"Five?"

Five smiled at you as he looked upon your face. You were so beautiful. Not that you weren't in the 60s but the way you looked at him now was different. It was soft and welcoming and felt like it was only for him. Leaning in just a little closer Five whispered to you,

"I'm here."

You let out a small gasp. He was here. This was real. Flinging your arms around him you held him tightly as Five wrapped his arms around to hold you back. No wonder his other self was so protective, who would ever want to let this go? You looked up at Five. A question had loomed on your mind ever since the day he vanished and you had to know the answer.

"Are you still mad at me?" You questioned nervously

Five saw the nervous look on your face. He knew that you had wondered if he was mad at you for a while. It was one of the last things you had said to him before you...died. Five took your face into his hands. Looking gently into your eyes he answered,

"I was never mad at you, to begin with. I was mad at my dad and one of my biggest regrets will always be taking that out on you and then leaving you all alone."

With his response, a weight fell off your shoulders. For so long you had thought you were the one that drove him away. You thought he was mad at you all this time, but to know that wasn't the case made you feel so much better.

"So you didn't purposely stay away?" You asked

"No, how could I ever choose to be away from my best friend?" Five added

You looked off to the side as best as you could, given that your face was held between his hands, and hoped that he didn't notice the blush rising to your cheeks.

"I don't know, but I missed you." You mumbled

Five took his hands from your face and hugged you once more responding,

"I missed you too. Not a day went by when I didn't."

You smiled knowing that Five had missed you as much as you missed him. Day after day, month after month, year after year, you thought of him as you waited for him to come back. And now here he was before you telling you he felt the same way. It was all that you needed to hear. Well...there were other things you wanted to hear but those were more so desires than necessities. You were just happy to have him back.

"Pull that shit again and I'll kill you." You joke as you give him a small shove away

"I promise I won't." Five replies with a smirk "Although I don't think you would kill me anyway."

"Perhaps." You respond

Five threw his hands into the pockets of his academy shorts and looked at you.

"Care to walk and talk around the house?" Five offered

"Of course. Would you like me to turn invisible so you look insane for old times sake?"

"I already look insane in this uniform." Five joked

"You always did. C'mon, let's go." You say extending your hand towards him

Five looks at your hand, almost hesitant to take it because none of this felt real. Even though he had been around you not too long ago back in the 60s, this truly was different. This version of you hadn't seen him since the day he left. Unlike prior you who had experienced being around him, you had waited every day for his return. There was an excitement and awe that he got from you this time around that made him nervous. As Five thought more about the situation before him he froze up. As much as he trusted you when you said that you loved him the way he loved you Five still couldn't help but wonder if his other self just had better circumstances. He still worried that maybe that version really was just lucky. Five didn't want to get this wrong, but nevertheless, he took your hand. Fingers intertwining, there was electricity you both felt but would not tell the other.

With a smile, you started to walk around the house as you had done many times before, both of you trying your best to catch the other up. The conversation came easy as if the two of you were never separated. Five took in the sights of his old home. Nothing had really changed since he left, minus the small presence you had created. There was a newer piano in the parlor and you had shown off your wonderful room to him. He remembered your description of it from your diary and how you changed it from being Diego's to yours but it was even better in person. As you two exited your room Five looked down the hall at a shut door. It was his room. Five made his way there and you followed behind. Carefully, he opened the door to it and stepped inside. Once more you followed behind and thinking that the sight of his childhood room might be tough for him, you shut the door.

As you shut the door though Allison who had been heading to her room happened to pass by and noticed the two of you in there. Something about you two being together again reignited the feelings of her youth. She remembered the times when you and she had traded secrets about your crushes. The gossip in her immediately needed to tell someone else. Turning back around she went downstairs and noticed the rest of her siblings in the parlor again. Approaching them all she said,

"I don't want to alert anyone but Five and (Y/N) went into Five's room and shut the door."

"WHAT?!" Diego shouted as he angrily turned to face her

"Oooh, juicy," Klaus commented "I remember being 18 and hormonal. Horniness levels are through the roof, I mean-"

"NOT ON MY WATCH!" Diego yelled cutting Klaus off

There was no way his baby sister was going to be in a room with a boy alone. Especially not with the boy who had left her alone and broke her heart. What was he going to do? Break it again? Not if he had anything to say about it. With his fists clenched tight Diego started to march his way out of the parlor. He was going to protect his little tiny princess, but as he attempted to go, Luther, with his superior strength, held him back.

"Let me go, Luther!" Diego yelled

"We shouldn't just barge in there Diego." Luther criticizes

"That's MY  little sister!" Diego retorts

"There are better ways of approaching this," Luther replies

"I want to know what's going on though..." Vanya comments

"Me too," Allison adds

As the group stands around debating Ben leans over to Klaus and says,

"Klaus."

"What do you want?" Klaus replies annoyed

"Is that camera we bought as kids still in Five's room?" Ben asks

"Yeah, we never took it out. Why?"

"The tablet to watch the video feed on is in my closet." Ben states

Klaus looks at him confused for a second before realizing what Ben meant. Getting excited Klaus exclaims,

"Guys! Guys!"

The rest of the group looks over to him confused and with all of their attention grabbed Klaus continues,

"The video camera we got as kids is still in Five's room and the tablet is in Ben's closet!"

"Do you think it still even works?" Allison questions

"It's worth a try," Luther says

The group looks at each other before silently nodding in agreement. Together they head up to Ben's room and search for the tablet in his closet. Finding it they turn on the switch and to their surprise, it works. The picture quality was not as great as they remember but clear enough that they all can see what is going on. As they all stand over the tablet Diego says annoyed,

"Alright Five, what are you hiding from me."

"From us." Luther corrects

The two brothers glare at each other before turning their attention back to the tablet and the two of you in Five's room. Five stepped into his room quietly taking in the surroundings. Nothing had changed, it was as if his room was frozen in time. As he looks around you slowly approach his side. Standing next to him you looked around the room as well and comment,

"It's an odd feeling. Knowing that time has passed but everything looks the same."

Five looks towards you. Of course, you knew the feeling he was going through.

"No worries though, we'll get you everything you need to make this place feel like home again." You mention

"I already have everything I need to feel at home." Five replies, his hand holding yours just a little tighter

Five gazes in your direction but as he does so he notices something behind you. Letting go of your hand he steps around you curious and makes his way over to his desk. Looking down at the object placed there he realized that it's the radio he had taken from Allison all those years ago. Confused as to what he was looking at you followed him towards the desk and saw the radio.

"I can't believe it's still here after all this time."  Five comments

"Well we never gave it back and I'm guessing nobody wanted to come take it after..." You mention trailing off

"Yeah..." Five replies before questioning "I wonder if it still works?"

You shrugged your shoulders and gestured to the old electronic encouraging him to see if it worked. Leaning down Five plugs in the old radio before pressing the on button. The sound of static blasts loudly through the speakers causing both of you to flinch back a little in shock. After a moment Five started to turn the knob to tune the radio, searching through for a station that was clear. Soon the static started to fade and in its place music could be heard. 

As the camera continues to spy on the two of you, the rest of the Hargreeves siblings watch what goes on from Ben's room. Seeing the working radio Allison exclaims,

"Hey, it's my radio! I never got it back!" 

"Allison, it's been years and still no one cares about your radio." Klaus comments "We want to know what's up with Five and (Y/N)."

Allison lets out a huff and crosses her arms. Just because it was old and she hadn't been in possession of it or thought about it for years didn't mean it wasn't hers. Even with her pouting, the siblings continued to observe. As they did so Diego aggressively says,

"Alright Five what shit are you going to pull now?"

"I don't think he's going to do anything." Vanya comments "I mean there's nothing wrong with them being happy."

Back in Five's room, music flowed through the air as Five leaned against the edge of his desk, watching you look around the place. He was absolutely enthralled by you. The most mundane of things seemed extravagant just because you were there with him. A wide smile appeared on his face as he remembered a similar time he had spent with you. You took in the room silently as the upbeat music played. It had been a bit since you'd last been in Five's room, but for the first time in a while it felt warm and bright again. Looking over your shoulder you looked back towards Five and noticed the smile on his face.

"What?" You questioned 

"Nothing." Five replied with a shake of his head

"Nothing? The mind of Five Hargreeves is completely empty?" You joke sarcastically "This is something I'd expect from your brothers, not you."

Five rolled his eyes at you but he missed your quick wit. No one at the commission could keep up with him like you could. As you walked back over to him, Five could see the look on your face waiting for him to elaborate. 

"I was just thinking-" Five starts to explain before being cut off

"Ah, so you were thinking!" You comment back

"Yes." Five replies letting out a small laugh "I was thinking about how this reminds me of our friendiversary a bit."

"Yeah, kind of, minus the food and flowers." You reply 

You were right, there was no food and flowers. How could he even think to compare the two times when this time wasn't as perfect? Quickly standing up from the desk, Five starts to make his way over to the door as he states worried,

"Do you want food and flowers?" 

Reaching out, you grab his hand preventing him from going any further. Stopping in his tracks he looks back towards you confused at your action. Gently, you pull his hand back towards you, causing him to come back close to you. With his hand still in yours, Five asks confused,

"Do you not want food and flowers?"

"No, Five."  You replied with a smile "I just want you."

For a moment, Five could feel his heart stop. Although his expression seemed calm and collected, internally he had no clue what to do. He was so preoccupied trying to figure out how to get back to 2019 so he could stop the apocalypse that he never stopped to think fully about what would happen when he actually did so. And it wasn't until he met himself that he even found out being a teenager again was a possibility. This was the most unprepared he had ever been and the nerves he felt on your friendiversary were nothing compared to the nerves he felt now. If you didn't want food or flowers then what could he do? And then from the radio, he heard the voice of the announcer,

"This is Arlo Vegas with 103.5 WKTU. I hope that even with all the doom and gloom outside today everyone can stay high and dry. Up next, a throwback to 2017 this is Adore by Dean Lewis."

I'm just gonna stand with my bag hanging off my left arm I'm just gonna walk home kicking stones at parked cars But I had a great night, 'cause you kept rubbing against my arm So I'm just gonna stand with my bag hanging off my left arm

Five looked towards the radio as the sound of a soft guitar slowly playing and the lyrics of the song enveloped the room. As the music played he remembered the part of your friendiversary that he could never forget. He remembered how the two of you danced that night and the joy he felt in that moment. Looking back towards you he nervously asked,

"Would you like to dance...with me?"

"I'd love to." You replied longingly

Five guided you the few steps towards the center of his room taking a quiet breath as he tried to calm his nerves. How did he do this so easily as a child? Oh right, he didn't realize he was in love with you then. Turning back to face you he saw as your eyes lit up and your smile widened. So much for breathing when you took his breath away so easily. Gently, he took one of your hands in his as he wrapped his other arm around your waist. You wrapped your free arm around his neck as the two of you slowly started to dance to the music.

Get me a drink, I get drunk off one sip, just so I can adore you I want the entire street out of town just so I can be alone with you Now go when you're ready My head's getting heavy, pressed against your arm I adore you

"So is this what your prom was like last week?" Five asked 

You looked up towards him slightly confused. How did he know about your prom? It took you a second to remember but you then recalled that he had come from the future so he had to have found out about it somehow. You recalled your prom only a week ago, it was fun to be with your friends but it was definitely not the same experience as dancing with Five. With a slight chuckle, you answer.

"No, it was not like this."

"Oh, why not?" Five questions

"Well dancing with you is quite different than dancing with Dean, because neither of us had dates and we pitied each other." You explained

"I wish I could've come a week earlier then. I would've saved you the pity by dancing with your brother." Five joked

"Wow, okay." You laughed

"I'm joking." Five explained, his expression softening as he added "I'd never pass up a chance to dance with you."

"Neither would I." you replied quietly

All of my money is spent on these nights, just so we can hang out Spacing in and out of your dresses, I wanna be found by you Found by you

As the two of you swayed you couldn't help but rest your head against his chest. A small smile appeared on your face as you closed your eyes and comfortably melted into the moment. Unconsciously, you started to stroke the hair at the back of his head casing Five to lean into your touch. It was so gentle and soft. Five could feel his heart start to pick up its pace. He hoped that you couldn't hear so because he had no clue how he would explain it to you. Granted, he knew all the words he wanted to say to you but he didn't know if he'd even be able to get them out. 

Get me a drink, I get drunk off one sip, just so I can adore you I want the entire street out of town just so I can be alone with you Now go when you're ready My head's getting heavy, pressed against your arm I adore you, I adore you

As your head rested on top of him a thought came to your mind. It was something that you hadn't done in a while and something you had desired to do. Lifting your head up, you look towards Five who looks back down towards you. Had he done something wrong? Did you hear how fast his heart was beating? Quietly you ask,

"Will you spin me?"

Relief washes over Five's system as he gives you a soft smile.

"Of course I will," He replies

Slightly breaking away from you he helps to twirl you around, the smile on your face filling his heart to the point he felt it was going to burst. Your laughter filled the room as you enjoyed your time with your best friend. You couldn't think of anything to make the moment better. Five spins you back in towards him before spinning you out once more. As you spin out quickly your grip on his hand slips and you start to fall back. Quickly, Five flashes over and catches you. His arms wrapped tightly around your waist as yours find their way around his neck. 

She kicks the gutter in tight shorts, basketball courts Watch me, watch her talk to boys I'm known as a right-hand slugger Anybody else wanna touch my lover?

The two of you look at each other both trying to catch your slight breaths from the burst of adrenaline that just occurred. 

"I told you I wasn't going to let you fall." Five comments

It was too late for that though. You had fallen for him years ago in a situation exactly like this one. There was something different about it this time, an energy you had never felt before. Your eyes were still locked on each other he slowly brought you back up. The soft bridge of the song played in the back but all either of you could hear was the beating of your own hearts. Wrapped up tightly in each other's arms there was no space between the two of you. Each of you wanted to say so many things, wanted to shout the thoughts that raced in your mind, the ones you always had, but no words came out. As Five stood there with you in his arms he finally started to understand what you meant back in the 60s when you said the pieces would fall into place. Everything about this moment felt right like it was meant to be. Like he was meant to be here with you. As you continued to look into each other's eyes there was a magnetism that pulled you closer. Your faces inched closer as the space between you lessened more and more. For a moment you both wondered if you were dreaming but no, this was real. You were here with each other. And as the climax of the final verse hit, your eyes closed as your lips gently pressed against each other.

Get me a drink, I get drunk off one sip, just so I can adore you I want the entire street out of town just so I can be alone with you Now go when you're ready My head's getting heavy, pressed against your arm Just to adore you

Tenderly, you both expressed everything you wanted to tell the other without saying any words at all. The years of pining and longing to be reunited had finally culminated into something beautiful. Something you both had desired for a very long time. The world around you faded away leaving only the two of you and your newly acknowledged love for each other. Removing his arms from your waist he took your face in his hands, pulling you closer and deepening the kiss. He never wanted to leave this moment. This was all he ever wanted, this is what he survived and fought for and now to have it? It felt unreal to him. But it was real. He had you, and you had him, and nothing would ever take that away now.

I adore you

Neither of you wanted to be the first to part from the kiss but as the final lyric of the song ended the two of you slowly separated. With eyes still closed, you rested your foreheads against each other, relishing in the beautiful moment. As Five held you close, he knew he needed to tell you something. Even if he had expressed it in his kiss to you, he wanted to verbalize it, to make it know and make it real. Moving one of his hands from your cheek to your chin, he tilted your face up to look at him. As he gazed into your eyes, with adoration in his voice, he whispered,

"I love you, (Y/N)."

You could feel your stomach flutter with butterflies as you processed his words. There was nothing you wanted to hear more than those words. Finally getting to express how you felt, you replied breathlessly,

"I love you too, Five. You know what this means now though."

"What?" Five questioned

"You can never leave me again." You answer

"I promise nothing will ever tear us apart again. Not people, not distance, not time, nothing." 

The two of you looked at each other lovingly before leaning in for another kiss. As you did so the siblings in the other room saw everything. 

"Awww," Vanya said as she placed a hand over her heart

"They're so cute!" Allison exclaimed

"They are not!" Diego remarks angrily as he tries to make his way to the door "I'm going to go in there and stop him."

"Luther, stop him." Allison requests

Doing as she says, Luther wraps his arms around Diego from behind and picks him off the ground. Kicking his legs and wriggling around, Diego fights like a child trying to escape Luther's grasp.

"That is my little princess! I need to put a stop to this!" Diego complains

"She is 18, you need to let her live her life," Allison replies

"Not with him! The one who ruined it." Diego retorts

"I don't think she sees it that way," Vanya interjects

As the other siblings argue with Diego, Ben leans over to Klaus and states,

"If I was alive you would owe me $20 bucks right now. I told you they'd come back and get together before Allison and Luther would."

"Oh, shut up," Klaus replies

The rest of the group looks over to Klaus before looking back at the still flailing Diego.

"Klaus makes a good point. You need to drop this and shut up Diego." Allison states

"I will not!" Diego replies back

"If you don't calm down, drop the issue, and let them be happy I will rumor you into doing so." Allison threatens

It takes a moment but Diego soon stops his fighting. He was not going to be rumored into ignoring the situation but for now, he would put it off. Letting out a huff, Diego relents,

"Fine."

"Good, now let's shut down this camera and just leave them be. We can talk to them later." Luther commands as he puts Diego back down

And so as the siblings tried to quietly file out of Ben's room and go off to do other things, this version of Five and you stayed happily together ready to take on whatever the future threw at them.

____________________________________

Taglist: @xplrreylo @joebob15274 @insatiable-ivy @fruitsaladtree @angelpeachamber @academy-umbrella @lizziel1410 @ir3neeee @faith-quake @aliens-with-colas @sunsetcurve-1995 @lady-celeste25 @im-dead-and-hurting @nerdypinupcrystal @cherry-ki-d @anapocalypseinmymind @vicassa @2cuteforyourlies @taylorsmakingfuckingmacandcheese @n1ghtsh4d3-67 @cheshire-salvatore-mikaelson @shadowycreationcupcake @emily-hargreeves @metor-showers1994 @fivehargreevesforthewin @rinko-san @supernovavision @cicilisthebest @flickbix @hi-v-juice @magykal-777 @zosiaduda @thethirdwheelfriend @mysticracoon @isnt-it-loverly @officiallydarkgeek @lady1505 @always-the-very-worst @tinypandagirl @libidinexx @lemongrabbuns @itwasallred @deadandoverit @shlokage @keksi249 @theoriginalkat @we-stan-fiction @bi-idiot-fanfics @annnagennnie @izzyjojo4 @megasimpleplan4ever @flowertoty @grabthemoneyandletsgo @itsametaphorbriansblog @vanillacaramelhoney @satvaldiva @disaster-magician @margotsfandoms @emily-b-m @bluechildrenlickmytoes @soft-slytherin-sweetie @oceanspray5 @im-here-for-fanfics @thebloodrobin @freestarlight @starcurrent @lilacs-lavender @moatsnow @give-the-boy-a-hug @narikyuwu @whenyouregrungeaff @gabriella-aesthetic @xxtwizztedxx

[rivalsforlife]

one more ahaha but the cherry blossom scene at the end of catch up game ch 3 because i'm still thinking nonstop about it all the time 👀👉👈

ABSOLUTELY I CAN also for anyone reading this go look at Mika’s art which inspired this scene. It’s the tumblr version so you can reblog it too, which you should do, even if you don’t read my long rambling,

okay once again rambling below...

Traditionally, Larry Butz arrived at any social gathering anywhere from half an hour to three hours later than the time he was told, so all things considered, he was actually early. Phoenix wasted no time informing him of the latest betrayal among their small elementary school friend group.

this is a direct callout to one of my friends from high school, where we started seriously considering telling her that any social event we were planning started an hour earlier than it actually did so that she’d make it there on time. We never did in case this turned out to be the time she actually made it on time, but still.

“Larry, remember that one time we were trying to make that gigantic hopscotch game, and we ran out of chalk?” He pointed an accusatory finger at Edgeworth, who sighed. “It turns out, Edgeworth hid it all along!”

Larry blinked, then shrugged. “Oh yeah, right, that. Well, I kind of had an idea…”

“Wh — You hid this from me too?! D-Death! The death penalty for the both of you!”

“Why does this all sound so familiar,” Edgeworth commented under his breath.

I think this part is mostly there so Larry actually does something because I couldn’t find any real way to fit him into this fic...? Anyways the dialogue there with Phoenix threatening the death penalty on Miles and Larry is pretty much directly lifted from the end of Turnabout Goodbyes, which is why Miles comments on it sounding familiar. 

They continued on in that vein for some time, dredging up old elementary school memories. Phoenix proclaimed to be the only innocent member of that group, before Edgeworth brought up a set of very nice gel pens Phoenix reportedly stole from him. Phoenix and Edgeworth got caught up in their argument, and barely even noticed when Larry wandered away, joining Maggey and Gumshoe at the fishing pond while Franziska critiqued them.

This sort of familiar banter was normal. As Edgeworth teased in that same way he had ever since Phoenix first faced him in court, he had to wonder if he’d just imagined the way Edgeworth had been looking at him during the party. Maybe everything was fine, after all.

Not pictured: Phoenix and Miles leaning in closer to each other as they argue. too close. Larry tries to comment but neither of them hear him. Eventually he just walks away because he’s sick of third-wheeling with these two. It’s my firm belief that if there weren’t the court benches in the way that they need to slam, these two would slowly walk closer and closer to each other as they argue because they. uh. want to “intimidate” each other. that’s why they’re nose to nose like that. the whole courtroom is suddenly very uncomfortable.

Haha anyways also I think these two would pick the dumbest things to argue about all the time? Never seriously arguing, the just like bickering because they don’t know how to hold conversations about their feelings.

“You still haven’t explained exactly what happened to my gel pen set,” Edgeworth accused, as they circled around the argument for the third time.

Phoenix threw his hands up in the air. “I just forgot to return it! I didn’t know you were so bothered by it. You should have brought it up!”

“Back then? You were so sensitive. If I brought up that you might have upset me in the least, you would have burst into tears.”

“I wasn’t that sensitive.”

Edgeworth sighed. “Wright, you cried when I got a question wrong on a spelling test, because you thought I would be sad about it.”

“And you were!” Phoenix retorted. “You cried for like an hour!”

“Because when you started crying, I thought it was something I had to be ashamed of!”

More bickering, pretty much! Also I do think Phoenix cried A Lot and was super sensitive up until the whole Dahlia trial which traumatized him pretty badly... 

Anyways the REAL story behind this incident which I am making up just now is probably that Miles was on the verge of crying because of Getting Something Wrong -- which I totally get, I absolutely almost cried over spelling tests as a baby -- and Phoenix picked up on this and realized his best friend was sad and started crying, which made Miles start to fully cry, and it just became a mess.

Meanwhile Larry with the 3/10 on his spelling test was just like “I don’t get what you guys are so upset about a 9/10 is great” which just makes them cry even more.

(Then Gregory probably found out about this incident and sat Miles down and gave him a speech about “everyone makes mistakes and it’s okay to not be perfect all the time, this is a learning opportunity and it shows you what you need to work on!”

:)

That sentiment didn’t last very long.)

Wow I’m getting off topic, moving on --

Phoenix crossed his arms. “I remember this whole thing very differently than you do. You cried first.”

“I never cried in fourth grade.”

Phoenix leaned in and whispered into his ear, “Origami.”

“Do not bring that up!” Edgeworth hissed as Phoenix reared back, laughing.

I don’t know if you need to lean in super close and whisper that in his ear though Phoenix, that might be a bit unnecessary. Miles got lucky here in that his Eternal Shame over not being able to fold an origami crane in fourth grade overrode whatever reaction he undoubtedly would have had about Phoenix’s face being very close to his face.

Anyways this banter is here in the fic mostly because I really wanted to show them being all comfortable and happy with each other. That was a major thing I wanted to push as much as possible in these earlier chapters, that they do care about each other a lot even before we enter the more outright romantic territory.

“Regardless, I am certain you took my gel pen set, so don’t try to blame faulty memory on that one. I bet you carelessly used them all up, didn’t you?”

“Hardly! I wouldn’t even touch it after you left. It reminded me of you.”

Some of the fight left Edgeworth’s stance. “Really?”

“Well… yeah.” He wasn’t sure why the admission suddenly felt like a confession of an entirely different sort.

aw man Phoenix you brought feelings into your banter NOW what are you going to do.

I’m preeetty sure I have books that I lent to my friends in fourth grade that they never gave back so it’s of course not an inherently romantic thing, they probably just forgot it was mine and obviously aren’t going to bring it back now ten years later, but for Phoenix in this case it was probably more like “I borrowed these gel pens from Miles and then keep forgetting to give them back but was going to after winter break, and then he left, so I need to hold onto them until he comes back”. Miles was taken from his life so suddenly it probably had a huge effect on him, especially since he had few friends at the time and Miles made such a big impact on him.

The two of them sat underneath the tree in a sudden, serene quiet. They’d both discarded their suit jackets at some point, down to their dress shirts and waistcoats. Phoenix pretended not to notice the way Edgeworth’s eyes darted across the line of his shoulders and lingered longer than they should have.

I don’t ever really pay much attention to what people are wearing or what they look like at any particular time when I’m writing, but in this case I took extra care to make sure they were in the same outfits as in the art that inspired this!

Maybe I’ll ramble a bit more about that! Pretty much the “theme” of narumitsu week this year was “cherry blossoms”, so I wanted to find some way to incorporate them into this fic somewhere somehow. I decided to have that as a focus on Free Day because I enjoy having structure and wasn’t sure what to have for the day.

Some of this scene, mainly the picnic, is inspired by that one official art here. The first iteration of this chapter had everyone in it (with the obvious exceptions of Diego and Mia) but then I took out Maya and Pearl for reasons I explained when I was talking about the scene in chapter 6 where I decided to cut a lot of Maya’s scenes out of this fic... even though I love her a lot.

And of course when I thought about cherry blossoms and narumitsu I thought about Mika’s art, yes I am linking it again, which I believe she posted about a month or so before I started planning and I was Thinking About It Constantly. It’s gorgeous and since there was the perfect opportunity to use it here I just couldn’t resist and here we are.

Back to the paragraph: Miles attempted to subtly check Phoenix out. It was not subtle.

“Do you still have those gel pens?” Edgeworth asked, softer. “I think you owe me them, after everything.”

“Oh, shut up,” said Phoenix, but it was difficult to have a heated argument right now, for some unknown reason. “If I still have them, they’re in a box somewhere. Plus, they ought to have dried up by now.”

“I doubt it.” A faint smile was beginning to crawl on Edgeworth’s face. “Those gel pens were state of the art.”

“Sure they were,” Phoenix dismissed. “And, what, you’re going to use them? Sign your fancy prosecutor documents in bright pink?”

“What makes you think I don’t do that already?”

“You wouldn’t — oh, wait, of course you’d have customized ink in the same colour as your entire wardrobe, who am I even talking to…”

“Mhm.” Edgeworth brushed his bangs from his eyes, a motion that Phoenix’s brain decided to fixate on for some reason. “But really, you went to all the trouble of keeping the set, and you never used any of them?”

(Miles voice) “oh so you kept something as trivial as that for so long because they reminded you of me? Tell me more. Why do you want a reminder of me. What exactly do you think of me, Wright,”

hm pretty much as soon as Phoenix brought Feelings into this conversation the atmosphere kind of changed and you can now imagine Miles staring with the most adoring expression at Phoenix while Phoenix is ignoring this with such intensity that it doesn’t even show up in his narration. But he also watches the way Miles brushes his bangs from his eyes, so he’s not much better.

And thinking about it now this scene really went on for too long about gel pens hahaha... 

“Objection!” Phoenix declared. “I used the blue one to write you letters at first.”

“Ah, of course you did. I never got any of those… How many did you send?”

“I don’t even want to know…”

Edgeworth hummed and looked off into the distance, where Gumshoe was demonstrating how to cast a line. “Your level of dedication is something else,” he said, as if to himself.

“Well, yeah. You were my only non-Larry friend. You were…” Phoenix swallowed. “You were important to me, you know? You saved me.”

“You keep bringing that up. You’ve more than returned the favor, you know that, don’t you?”

“I’m inclined to disagree.”

I don’t have a consistent headcanon about whether Miles got or read the letters, in this fic presumably von Karma intercepted them and got rid of them... and then presumably Miles ignored any that were sent to him as an adult.

Also these two are going to have ridiculous arguments about who saved who until they’re on their deathbeds, I’m sure.

Edgeworth turned back towards him as if to retort, but stopped halfway, his eyes widening slightly as he stared at Phoenix.

“... Something on my face?” Phoenix asked, trying to quell the feeling of some sort of anxiety that bubbled up when Edgeworth stared at him like that.

insert mikacherryblossomart.png

Miles turns away for one second and then suddenly oh no he’s even more gorgeous now

Edgeworth was silent for some time. Then, very softly, he said, “You have cherry blossom petals in your hair.”

“What? Do I?” He reached a hand up to brush them out, but Edgeworth stopped him by grabbing his wrist, freezing Phoenix.

“With your hair, you’ll never get them out like that.” With his spare hand, Edgeworth began to pick each individual petal from his hair. “You look so — silly, Wright.”

Partially a callback to the beginning of chapter 3, when they were kids:

“Y-Your hair,” Miles managed to say through stifled laughter. “One of the flowers fell into it.”

Phoenix hands shot up into his hair. “Really?”

“You look so silly, Phoenix.” When Phoenix failed to find the flower, Miles reached out. “Here, let me.” 

 Phoenix remained still as Miles reached up to the top of his head and picked the flower out of his hair. “Your hair’s really soft,” Miles said quietly, before handing it over to Phoenix. “Here you go.”

because Miles apparently remembered that it was difficult for Phoenix to get the petals from his hair the first time, and also, wanted an excuse to touch Phoenix’s hair again.

But also the dialogue and interactions are ONCE AGAIN INSPIRED BY MIKA based on this reply to my reply to the art on twitter. look at that you can go and retweet the art on twitter too!

Overall this gives us an accurate Thoughts to Speech translator for Miles:

Miles: You have cherry blossom petals in your hair and it is going to kill me.

Phoenix: What? Do I?

Miles: No, wait, don’t brush them out, I want to touch your hair because it is soft and this is the perfect excuse. You look so captivating.

if Miles had said that out loud though it would probably have killed both of them.

Phoenix let out an awkward, low laugh, starting somewhere deep within his chest. “R-Really.”

“Mhm.”

Edgeworth’s eyes locked with Phoenix’s, and time seemed to freeze. There was a sudden thrum of tension in the air, as if Phoenix were in a play and he’d suddenly forgotten his lines, forgotten he was supposed to be in a play at all.

(chanting) “kiss kiss kiSS KISS KISS --”

But before either of them could break the sudden spell over them, a fishing hook whirred through the air, and —

“Ack, I — I think I got it stuck!”

but of course that needs to be interrupted at the worst possible time because this is fanfiction and this is how things work!

“In the tree?! How did you even manage to get it that far?”

“Don’t worry about it, Maggey, I can climb up the tree and get it unstuck, just hang on —”

“No, no, if I just give it a big yank—”

“Maggey—!”

I broke the first rule of writing dialogue because I can’t really remember who’s supposed to be saying what. I think that Maya had a few lines here and then I didn’t change them since there were no dialogue tags...

Pretty much -- Maggey with her eternal luck tried to fish but released the line too early as she was swinging back so the line went back and got caught in the tree branches directly above Phoenix and Miles.

I think the dialogue progression goes Maggey -> Originally Maya but now either Larry or Franziska -> Gumshoe -> Maggey -> everyone going MAGGEY NO!!!

I remember going fishing with my grandpa once a long time ago and either I or my brother did get the fishing line stuck in a tree. would not recommend.

The branch above Phoenix and Edgeworth jostled, and pink petals burst all around them, fluttering down and catching in their hair and on their clothes. One petal even fell behind Edgeworth’s glasses.

They stared at each other for a moment, stunned, Edgeworth’s hand still loosely wrapped around Phoenix’s wrist, as Maggey shouted apologies from the distance.

There are no cherry blossom trees where I live so I have no idea if we’re even in the right season for this or if cherry blossom trees even behave this way - but I’m basing it off of... you know when it’s that point in fall where if you shake a tree branch leaves will just scatter everywhere? That. 

Also RIP to the other four who were just having a grand old time fishing and then turn around seeing these two sitting really close to each other almost holding hands about two seconds away from a kiss... which they’d just interrupted...

And then — the most incredible thing happened, and Edgeworth began to laugh.

Phoenix could have catalogued all the laughs he heard from Edgeworth: the usual, short laughs often mistaken for a scoff by those who didn’t know him as well as Phoenix did; the triumphant, smug, courtroom laughs when he thought he had Phoenix cornered; to the quiet, restrained ones in private that were more of a hum than anything else. This laugh was new.

This was a full-on fit of laughter bubbling deep in his chest and spilling from his mouth, which Edgeworth quickly covered with his free hand, with the additional bonus of covering his reddening face. It wasn’t something hidden or faked or triumphant, it was genuine, and open, and Phoenix could swear it was one of the most beautiful sounds he ever heard.

Miles here is going through an emotional rollercoaster having been two seconds away from finally kissing the love of his life only to be interrupted at the worst possible time, which is just so on brand for the two of them that he can’t help but start laughing hysterically. Plus Phoenix probably looks absolutely shocked suddenly covered in petals, which doesn’t help.

Then the next two paragraphs are brought on by Phoenix Pining and also me wanting Miles Edgeworth to laugh more... 

From my notes for this scene:

They stare at each other for a moment and laugh, and Miles’ laugh just utterly captivates Phoenix and makes him fall so completely in love immediately and oh no he is screwed he is utterly screwed.

So pretty much I had to encapsulate the “falling so completely in love immediately” part which I decided to do by focusing on Miles laughing. I wanted to draw a lot of attention to that which is why there are so many paragraphs dedicated to Miles laughing and Phoenix thinking about Miles laughing.

Trucy’s laughter always made the world feel a little brighter, and made Phoenix feel stronger. Edgeworth’s laugh did the opposite; it dislodged something inside of him, it weakened him, it made the whole world go soft and fuzzy around him. Instead of illuminating all the good in the world, it turned Phoenix’s world into one person.

More focus on Miles’ laughter but also... kind of drawing attention to Phoenix’s reaction to this being different from his reaction to other people he cares about laughing? Because feeling warm and happy when seeing someone you care about non-romantically laugh is normal, but then I wanted to make it clear that this is a different sort of feeling for Phoenix. 

Also Phoenix has to realize this is a different sort of feeling for him because otherwise he could brush it off like he’s probably dismissed all of his romantic feelings throughout the years as “oh I’m just glad my friend is happy, and I rarely ever hear Edgeworth laugh so him being relaxed enough to laugh like that makes me feel happy too,” but it’s not what he’d expect if he just sees Miles as a friend. And it’s described as weakening in the paragraph because right now the subject of his romantic feelings for Miles isn’t something that Phoenix can fully or easily accept right now (as chapter 5 would indicate).

Edgeworth’s fit of laughter subsided, and he shifted his hand so he could look at Phoenix again, the hints of a shy grin peeking out between his fingers, his hair and his shirt and his face adorned with a sweet, gentle pink. It was like looking at an entirely different person — or, no, the same person, but with all armor off, all guards lowered.

Miles is very embarrassed right now but kind of... in a good way...? Like again, almost kissed the love of his life then rudely interrupted at the last possible moment, plus Phoenix’s whole reaction to the thing gave Miles the impression that Phoenix wanted to kiss him as well, so he’s feeling a little giddy. Plus he was just laughing a lot when he normally doesn’t do that. Overall he’s not used to expressing his emotions so he’s embarrassed and a little shy about it...

The part about Miles’ “hair and shirt and face adorned with a sweet, gentle pink” refers to both the cherry blossom petals (in his hair and clinging to his shirt and a bit on his face) and also him blushing quite a bit.

It all feels a little out of character honestly haha because Miles isn’t really the type to be blushing hardcore like this and be a little shy, buuut in this case I let myself get away with it because he’s dealing with romantic feelings he hasn’t ever dealt with at this level before, and it’s also out of character just enough to really strike Phoenix in the heart. You can just imagine him staring at Miles with the most lovestruck expression on his face because he hasn’t seen this side of Miles before and he loves it.

Phoenix’s heart stuttered in his chest, and may have stopped entirely.

He was screwed.

He was completely and utterly screwed.

And even Phoenix can’t deny that he’s super in love at this point. 

I think I wrote this part, changed the words “screwed” to “doomed” right before posting, and then switched it back again for no particular reason. The Vibe just felt a little off but oh well.

Then the next chapter skips over the rest of this picnic but honestly Phoenix’s brain skipped over the rest of this picnic as well. Imagine the two of them just kind of standing around in a lovestruck daze for a while. I think Franziska had to physically drag Miles out of there. no one knows how Phoenix got home, not even Phoenix and least of all me!

But thank you Mika for requesting this!! And for drawing such incredible art for me to base the chapter around haha!!!

[what-do-1000-swords-look-like]

and the rewatch continues

So rewatching most of season 5 and dipping into season 6, after coming from season 4, I found some things very interesting, things I actually had forgotten about and some that just hit differently now that the show has ended:

Season 4:

Brothers - different iterations: Had that finale happened after this season, it might have made better sense (though I STILL say the manner of Dean’s death is laughable)

Destiel & Cas: While Cas and Dean have some uncomfortable staring contests and there’s chemistry, I didn’t get the whole Destiel vibe (this is just my personal take), yes there’s a bond there, a growing partnership so to speak but I feel like Cas is not around enough for it to be in the forefront of the story or even to demand Dean’s attention in a way. Like Cas made his big entrance in 4x01 and we saw how things took off from there for the story and for this connection/bond between he and Dean but Dean is early season Dean and Cas is early season Cas. Though I found Cas’ interest in everything Dean Winchester to be intriguing (and he put Dean back together with his own hands, I just...this really does become the greatest love story ever told, I swear), I personally didn’t get the whole UST vibes that has been talked about. I actually found myself wanting to go deeper into Cas’ story (a la 6x20 style) aside from Dean’s and Sam’s. 

Anna: That whole night with Anna was purely that: a night. There wasn’t a whole lot of chemistry between Jensen and Julie and it’s very clear that this whole sex-on-last-night-on-earth thing is for comfort, for both characters. I kind of get why they switched up gears there for Dean’s angel role, even if they didn’t intend for Destiel to read as romantic at all initially. 4x09 & especially 4x10 were so obviously trying to ying and yang the brothers and the sides that had chosen them/complemented them: Anna | Ruby, Heaven | Hell -> eventually Michael | Lucifer. But back to Anna, while I enjoyed her character and would have loved to delve deeper with her, I am glad Cas was the one who got to stay. Anna and Dean had no chemistry, outside of a couple of glances before the big hookup/last night on Earth deal, there wasn’t really anything there. Tbf, they didn’t have a lot of private time before that, except maybe one convo. To me, in this scenario, Anna was a source of comfort (after she tells Dean he needs to forgive himself for what happened in Hell which I very much appreciated, someone had to tell him that) and attraction, letting her have her last night on Earth, a hookup, etc. But there was nothing deeper there. And for this bond with an angel to happen, there needed to be something deeper there. Perhaps had Anna been around longer and didn’t go the way she did in season 5, it might have but I honestly tend to doubt it. We all know Cas and Dean’s (Misha’s and Jensen’s) natural chemistry is off the charts. I’m not sure Anna (Julie) could have competed with that had both Cas and Anna stuck around together. I know I’m completely biased here, but I almost felt like Anna and Cas had more chemistry together, it might have been because they got more face time, I’m not sure. But I thoroughly enjoyed watching it all go down again.

Adam: Omg I forgot about how Adam wasn’t Adam when Dean and Sam first met him. That was heartbreaking on so many levels, but mostly for Adam and his mom dying the way they did and of course, for Dean and Sam. Namely Dean because he was the most affected by finding out about Adam’s existence. And I swear I fell in love with Dean more in that episode as a character because despite his pain, his anger, his hurt, he still tries to do the right thing by Adam, to honor his dad’s wishes. And John...that mf’er doesn’t deserve any of those boys as his sons. What an asshole through and through. 

Season 5:

Destiel & Cas: And now we see Cas becoming a bit more forefront and the vibe has changed...slightly. Now it’s a partnership turning into a friendship. Dean and Cas get a bit more face time and it shows. 5x03 was awesome and of course the wholly unnecessary line of “One, Bert and Ernie are gay” -- like where did that come from? I still loved it. It was tough to see Dean and Sam go their separate ways in the beginning but we still got some gold out of it with 5x03 and 5x04. And thankfully, we get more into not only more of the angel and apocalypse lore this season, but we also get to see how Cas’ relationship with the Winchesters is changing and more of what makes Cas tick as a character in his own right. And of course, bamf!Cas was very present. 

Brothers: Once again, had that finale happened after this season, it might have made more sense (sans the junk death) - because it’s very obvious that the co-dependency is alive and well here and it would have made more sense for their characters - while they have others outside of the two of them they are caring about (Bobby, Ellen, Jo just to name a few), it’s still the exclusive Winchester-only club. I truly enjoyed watching these two working together and moving towards the season finale. Dean’s memory of Sam and the fireworks, Dean talking about how Sam’s best memories weren’t the same as his (shocker, John Winchester is a d-bag, I’ll keep saying it), Dean struggling to make the decision to say yes to Michael, having to agree with the plan for Sam to say yes to Lucifer to try to trap the latter, Dean showing up to the cemetery -- all of it was incredible and the two of them were the beating heart of the show at that point. 5x22 will always be one of my favorite season finales for that show. It was pure awesomeness, truly epic and perfect.

Dean: holy hell, they really, really threw a lot into Dean this season - not that they hadn’t before, but damn. Each season just amps up the Dean game, just like I remember, and I am happily here for it again. No offense to Sam at all, but Dean is just so complex, so complicated yet straightforward, and there’s so many layers to him that they just keep peeling back and they feed us well each season. I swear, if you turned the sound off and just watched that scene where Dean tells Zachariah to call Michael, where Dean and Sam go their separate ways, you would know exactly everything Dean is feeling and thinking thanks to the incredible talent of one Mr. Jensen Ackles. Just really incredible. How this man never got nominated for an Emmy at any point for this show just astounds me. Yes, I know that show wasn’t considered a contender for that type of award run, but dammmnnnn. He deserves it and more. Watching this season and season 4 really brought back the original reasons I fell in love with Dean as a character in the first place. One of the best characters ever, I’m telling you. And may I just say, I hated that they brought back John’s leather jacket for him in the season finale but I get it, it was Kripke’s swan song (did I just do that? I believe I did) so we of course went back to core Winchester things, not just in story but every element. I’m ngl, I was so glad to see Dean shed it though when he is sitting down to dinner with Lisa and Ben.

Apocalypse: I thoroughly enjoyed this whole plot line - this really was high stakes, more than ever before, and though angels were dicks, there was Lucifer of course and a mysterious though mostly absent God behind the curtain - you just never knew what was going to be thrown at you next, just like the boys were going through.

Heaven/Mary: even though this definitely has to do with Dean more so, I did enjoy them seeing Ash and Pam, Ash’s setup, and of course Mary being there, seeing how such a good memory could be manipulated by the dick angels and the horrible things Mary said to Dean. Of course, I felt for Dean but it was interesting to see that whole scene play out. Plus we got even more confirmation of what we’ve known all along: John is a bonafide asshole and Dean really did experience facets of spousification, even before Mary died (which just makes me so sad for him, I swear if they don’t put a Cas vs John scene in the reboot... because you know Cas will win that thumb war)

Meg: ngl, I wasn’t really crazy about this iteration of Meg - I don’t mean Rachel Miner’s version, just this particular performance, which I chalk up to whoever decided they wanted her to go this route in her performance - I couldn’t believe it was the same character, the same actress - I am so glad the show/Rachel developed the character we all love to hate and secretly really love to how she was in later seasons

Jo: omg Jo. I have to admit, in season 2, in the first episode she showed up in, I despised her. She was like that bratty teenage kid who’s a real pain in the ass and whines and doesn’t get it. But after that episode, I grew to love her with each one she was in. She became a bamf in her own right and I loved seeing that come through this season especially. Her death was horrific (what is it with this show killing off bamf female hunters in such a gruesome way? it brought back horrible Eileen flashbacks for me personally, and for them to turn Meg and Ketch into somewhat redeemable characters after that... you know, I swear...) but heroic and I had never been more proud of my girl. Except the scene with Dean in the kitchen. As much as I love my chaotic hunter son, I was glad to see Jo flip him off in the way she did. So proud. And then her goodbye with Dean, I had forgotten exactly what he did so I was going “omg, she just saved you, Dean, this girl has feelings for you, she deserves at least a kiss, kiss her. right. the fuck. now!” and sure enough, he did, on the forehead, which I was like okay, well I get it, he doesn’t return those feelings but he does care about her but dammit, she deserved for him to plant one on her. and then he did and I was just gone, I was a complete bawling mess. And her goodbye scene with Ellen, and then her death along with Ellen’s sacrificing herself to stay by Jo’s side and give the boys a chance to get out of there...yeah, I didn’t stop crying for about five minutes. I cannot tell you how much I miss those characters and I would have sold someone else’s right arm to make their return in the series finale happen. Besides the obvious characters that should have been present, Ellen, Jo, and Ash deserved to be there (just not Samantha and Chad, if we can get a “Cas helped” for the third major character/lead, we can also get a “Ellen and Jo went to assist in setting up the honeymoon suite above the roadhouse - I said what I said).

John: usually, I cannot abide giving any time to this jerk, never mind talking about him, but I have to say I enjoyed seeing pre-loss John in 5x13. That conversation he has with Sam I think is so glaringly important. I know it was for Sam to forgive John and heal, but the fact that John himself is saying “how could he do that to you? he was supposed to protect you” -- yep, that was pure poetic cinema in my eyes. Because pre-loss John is right, how dare post-loss John do that to his boys? There’s no excuse anyone or this show can give him. As much as I love JDM, post-loss John Winchester will never be okay in my book.

Adam: omg Adam. First of all, I loved his dynamic with Sam and Dean. I really, really wish we could have had him around longer just for that alone. What an awesome character we could have had giving Dean and Sam a run for their money. “Well, we’re working on the power of love.” “How’s that going?” “Not so great.” -- give me an episode of the three brothers on a milk run hunt (sans generic mask-wearing vampmimes) with all of the fixings and I swear we would get done!Sam, consistently being roasted between Dean and Adam, and then Dean thinking he’s got a mutual now, a BFF, and Adam turning right around to roast him as well. It would be epic, I tell you, epic. I wish Adam had gotten a better end, this season and at the end of the series. He certainly deserved better. And this may be a random observation but why did Michael take Adam at all? I know the countdown had begun and he was desperate to grab a vessel so he could fight Lucifer at the appointed time and Dean was not giving in (that he knew of), but what chance of victory did he think he had without using his true vessel? Using that logic, I guess Michael’s end in the series makes more sense now...? Who knows.

Chuck: Swan Song (5x22) and the lines, “Endings are hard. Any chapped ass monkey with a keyboard can poop out a beginning but endings are impossible. You try to tie up every loose end but you never can. The fans are always gonna bitch. There’s always gonna be holes. And since it’s the ending, it’s all supposed to add up to something. I’m telling you, they’re a raging pain in the ass“ -- did anyone else feel like that was Kripke speaking or is it just me?

Season 6:

the whole Lisa thing: while it was nice to see Dean go domestic, I have to say I was more invested in Dean and Ben’s relationship development than I was with Dean and Lisa’s. The chemistry just wasn’t there, I have to be honest (he and Anna actually had more chemistry for a few minutes than he did with Lisa this whole season). I don’t doubt they loved each other, it was real, and Lisa was good for him at the time but it just didn’t have that spark. I loved Lisa as a character in her own right, but I was happy to see her and Dean eventually go their separate ways. Though my heart broke for Ben on that one. He and Dean really had a whole father-son bond happening there. I appreciated that when Ben called him, even that one time that nothing was really wrong, Dean dropped everything and headed right over. They had a bond of their own happening outside of Dean and Lisa’s. I think Dean ultimately made the right choice in the end to keep Lisa and Ben safe (though they should have been able to choose if they wanted this), but God did that cost him and we see it in that scene outside of the hospital with Sam. How much that hurt for him, and for us to see how it killed him to do it. I’m still grateful that he got to see what the domestic life was like and that he got a reprieve from hunting for a bit. It made complete sense as to why Cas didn’t want to pull him back in to ask for help with Raphael.

Destiel: Welp, now there’s definitely an emotional relationship happening. Meaning the bond has become even more forefront and not only is Dean affected, but we also see that Cas is, too. Dean’s reaction to finding out Cas was working with Crowley the whole time, Cas’ reaction to Dean choosing to save the two boys instead of focusing on finding Eve, Cas’ reaction to Dean’s stance on the Crowley situation, Dean’s finding out Crowley kidnapped Lisa and Ben, Cas asking Dean to trust him, Dean seeing Cas becoming the new God and needing to summon Death, etc. It was fantastic. While it hurt during some moments, I enjoyed seeing the dynamics and reactions to these situations play out. This is definitely a friendship now, a family relationship formed (and still forming) like Dean says in 6x20. Imho, Jensen and Misha knocked it out of the park this season when it came to that relationship. I loved it.

Cas: holy hell, 6x20 has become one of my all-time favorite episodes of SPN. I loved seeing Cas’ POV. Cas was already a fave character of mine but this episode made me fall in love with him all over again. This was incredible and I’m so thankful they fed us so well with this one. I really enjoyed seeing Cas as a character stepping into the forefront, right there with Dean and Sam. Yes, he was a part of TFW before this, but you have to admit that in this season, it becomes a whole new ball game. Really amazing stuff and of course, Misha slayed it all.

Meg & Megstiel: I was so happy to see the iteration of Meg return that we know from later seasons. Maybe I’m just too used to that version but to me this felt more effortless for the character and for Rachel, that really let both shine. Personally, I’m not a Megstiel shipper. While I love their dynamic, it just isn’t there for me, but I really did enjoy their scenes together. Cas felt as if he needed a little shaking up so to speak so I think she was perfect for that. Plus, I have a hard time forgiving those in the show that sic Hellhounds on my bamf female hunters so that might be partially the reason for my bias, just saying. (I never really forgave Ketch either)

Samuel...& Co: I just...why? Don’t get me wrong, I liked Mitch but this felt a bit...I don’t know...off? Other than some place for Soulless!Sam to go while Dean was playing house and for nabbing Alphas for Crowley, I don’t get what the point of this story line was? Was it to show us that Mary’s dad was a d-bag? Check. Was it to show us how people sometimes make the worst decisions when it comes to their family? Double check. Like, we kind of already got that and it was just unnecessary confirmation if that makes sense. And the thing that kills me is that Samuel was in Hell (or goes to Hell, I kind of did other things in the background during that arc) but he loved his daughter enough to betray her sons and do the wrong thing but John gets to go to Heaven? This still confounds me. Though I enjoyed Gwen and it was a shame she couldn’t be a family contact in another state for the boys later on to pop up every now and then.

Soulless!Sam: I enjoyed this part of Sam’s arc but I won’t lie, I was relieved like everyone else when he finally got his soul back though waited with bated breath for the other shoe to drop. But it was interesting to see this side of Sam.

Dad!Dean: I know I mentioned Dean and Ben above, but that one episode with the shifter!baby, that was priceless and God, did I love it.

I just loved going back to this for both boys

[ripley95]

Echoes of Old Embers

Chapter 4

Pairing: F!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko

Rating: T

Chapter length: 4.6K

Story Tags: friends to lovers, mini slow burn, angst

Story Synopsis:

After surviving the war, one of Shepard’s biggest regrets was rejecting Kaidan at Apollo’s. Fate has a way of bringing Jane and Kaidan back into each other’s lives. A misunderstanding with his family makes Kaidan and Shepard relive old history and question where they stand.

Link to Chapter 1 on AO3

Chapter Synopsis:

Kaidan and Shepard make their way to his family home on the orchard. Shepard finally meets Kaidan’s family.

Link to Chapter 4 on AO3

Tumblr Links:

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14

Read the chapter here below the cut:

Shepard was looking out the window, admiring the view from Kaidan’s rental skycar. They were well on their way to the orchard. The sky was relatively empty heading towards the Okanagan, not much traffic getting in the way of the scenery. They passed beautiful mountainscapes still covered in snow. The whole journey into the interior was more scenic than she was expecting. BC offered a lot of Earth’s beauty, and she figured she’d try to enjoy what she could from this trip. ‘Try’ was the operative word there, still thinking this plan was a mistake. She bounced her uninjured leg nervously, contemplating how difficult this week was about to be. Something Kaidan seemed to be picking up on the closer they got to the orchard.

“You alright there, Shepard? You look like you’re getting a little restless.”

“You could say that,” she said, looking over at him with a smirk. “If you’ll recall, you forced me to drink two whole bottles of water before we left, not to mention my coffee. I think I’m ready for a pit stop.” It was the truth, but she’d be lying if that was the whole reason behind her lively leg. She was getting more and more nervous, the closer they got to their destination.

Kaidan smirked at her. “Sorry about that. Maybe I should have let you pace the water a bit, but I still think you’ll end up thanking me for it later. Think you can hold it, though? The orchard’s only a couple minutes away.”

“Already?”

“Yup. Just over that hill up there,” he said, pointing ahead of them.

“Well, in that case, I’m pretty sure I can hold it.” Her leg continued to bounce impatiently, despite what she said.

They rode in silence the rest of the way. It really wasn’t far off at this point, and the thought of it only put her more on edge. Any minute now, she’d be meeting Kaidan’s family. Yet another thing that reeked of intimacy. This was something that people who were romantically involved did, and yet again, she felt as though she was stealing someone else’s place that should have been here instead of her. Kaidan wasn’t fazed at all as she glanced back towards him. He was just steering the car with a wistful smile.

No matter how he might have felt about their relationship, he was still here for a celebration and to get to be here for his sister on her special day. He would be welcoming someone new into his family. It at least made her happy that he was getting the chance to experience this. She knew this was going to be a stressful week for herself, but seeing the look on his face made her feel better about it.

Just like that, they were already making their descent. Kaidan was right, the ride was short. They made a soft landing on a patch of grass in front of the house. She practically bounced out of the car with her nervous energy. Kaidan went to the trunk to grab the bags. As Shepard reached for hers, he quickly intercepted it, and she looked at him questioningly.

“You know I can carry my own bag, right? I’m not that debilitated.”

“Maybe not, but after what I saw this morning, I don’t want you to be adding any unnecessary weight on that leg,” he said, taking the bag and putting the strap over his shoulder.

Shepard chuckled at that. Always the caretaker. She just wasn’t used to relying on anyone else to make things easier for her. “I guess I can’t argue with that. After you,” she finally agreed as she directed her hand towards the house, still fidgeting a bit thanks to her need to go to the bathroom.

He made his way up the steps and waited for Shepard to follow after him. “Well, I hope you’re ready to meet my family. I’m warning you now, they can be a bit much,” he said with a laugh, his hand hovering over the doorbell.

“I’m sure they’re fine. Even if I wasn’t ready, though, I’m about to pee my pants if this waits any longer.”

“Right,” he said with a smirk as he rang the bell.

As they waited, Shepard examined their surroundings. This was where Kaidan was raised. His childhood home. She never had anything like that, always changing ships, or being dropped off at boarding school while her mother was on active duty. She could see the appeal of having a place to always call home, not to mention being raised close to nature. It must have been nice, not that she begrudged her own upbringing by any means. It was just different. The house was very classic looking, made out of real wood, layered in soft hues of paint with a large porch on the front of the house that they were currently standing on. The property was stunning and bigger than she expected. Well kept, too, barely any signs of the war leftover. She didn’t really know what to expect when she agreed to come out here, but she was pleasantly surprised that they already managed to have it looking so good after the end of the war.

One of the windows must have been open, because they heard some shuffling from inside, followed by someone yelling.

“Kaidan’s here!!” they heard before there was a large commotion of thumping.

That made Shepard look at Kaidan, surprised. She wasn’t expecting such a reaction from an Alenko. She had envisioned them to be reserved and quiet. Then again, her only example to go off of was him, so that wasn’t necessarily a fair assessment.

“That was Maisie. She can be… enthusiastic. Acts like a teenager, even though she’s well into her twenties already. Like I said, they can be a bit much.”

“Ah,” Shepard said with a nod, still a little surprised from the complete contrast to Kaidan.

“I’ve already got it, Maisie. Calm down,” they heard someone shout back before the door opened.

Shepard got the briefest glimpse of the woman opening the door, before a blur of colour shot right past her. Said blur of colour jumped onto Kaidan, hugging him with what looked like the force of a death-grip. Kaidan promptly dropped the bags in his hands as he staggered backwards, nearly falling down the steps.

The woman that opened the door walked outside onto the porch, looking like she was trying to greet her brother as well. She had strikingly similar features to Kaidan, the same dark hair and eyes. There wasn’t any denying that they were related, likely Raiya, the oldest, if Shepard had to guess. There was something about her serious disposition that screamed maturity. She made eye contact with Shepard, and she stopped dead in her tracks. There was an expression of shock at seeing who Kaidan brought with him as his plus one. Shepard waved awkwardly as Kaidan’s younger sister was still dramatically hugging her brother.

“Aaah, I missed you so much. You’re the only cool sibling, you know that?!”

“I’m standing right here, Maisie,” the older sister said, finally moving her attention away from Shepard.

“Oh yeah. Forget I said that,” Maisie said, finally lowering herself from the hug, not even noticing the awkward silence filling the air behind her.

“The only reason you say that is because I’m the one gone long enough for you to miss me, you know,” Kaidan said as he smiled at her. It was one of warmth that looked like he was happy to be home, seeing his family again. Shepard couldn’t help but notice how good it looked on him.

Suddenly, the sound of a dish dropping came from one of the rooms in the house, prompting everyone to turn towards the noise. Shepard had a perfect view, noticing two other women in what looked to be a dining room just past the main foyer. Both of them stood there, staring. That must have been Kaidan’s mother and Libby. All of the Alenkos shared similar features, no denying their relation. Libby was acting flustered for having just dropped the dish as she bent to pick it up. Luckily it didn’t actually break, and they were examining if anything could be salvaged. Shepard couldn’t help but think she seemed a little perturbed, too. That was terrific. She was already making a horrible first impression, causing people to drop dishes.

With the commotion drawing everyone’s attention, Maisie was the last one to finally see Shepard standing there. “Holy shit,” she muttered out. She also had that trademark Alenko black hair, but hers had streaks of bright blue and pink running through it. From what little Shepard knew of her, she could already tell it matched her colourful personality.

All eyes were on Jane now, as she stood there awkwardly, immediately prompting her to look towards Kaidan. “I guess you forgot to tell them I was coming?” she said with a nervous laugh. She was usually the picture of confidence, able to keep her cool, yet somehow having the attention of all of the Alenko women on her was enough to make her anxious.

“Uh,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “I told everyone I was using my plus one last night.”

“Yeah, sure, but none of us believed you!” Maisie said, hitting Kaidan in the abdomen with the back of her hand playfully.

“You also left out who it was that you were bringing,” Raiya cut in, sounding much less enthused than her lively sister.

“I didn’t think I had to,” Kaidan said, sounding a bit confused about everyone’s reaction.

“You didn’t think we’d be interested in knowing you were dating Commander Shepard?!” Maisie cut in sharply.

That made both Kaidan and Shepard go wide-eyed at each other, their mouths agape.

“That’s not- I never-” Kaidan said, stumbling over his words.

He was interrupted by the sound of Libby sniffling, and Kaidan’s mother comforting her and bringing her back into the kitchen.

Shepard stared at Kaidan in a way that was begging for help. Somehow, everything that could have gone wrong was going wrong and then some. She had no idea what to do in this situation, and she still had to go to the bathroom.

“Uh, right, Shepard has to use the bathroom,” he said, picking up their bags, and guiding her through the doorway and down the hall, his hand resting on her lower back.

“Aww, how cute! He calls her Shepard,” Maisie squeaked from behind them.

Kaidan dropped the bags by the bathroom door and gently grasped her shoulder to get her attention.

“I am so sorry, Shepard. I have no idea what that was or how they came to that conclusion. All I said is that I was using my plus one, I swear. I’ll go clear this up.”

“It’s okay,” she said. She wasn’t sure if she was trying to reassure Kaidan or herself at that point. It was a simple misunderstanding, but it wouldn’t help her own situation and how she was already feeling about Kaidan.

Kaidan gave her a quick nod before trying to go and smooth things over with his family.

She closed the door behind her. It was made out of thin plywood. The kind that was hollow in the middle, so as she closed it, she could still hear everything that was going on.

“Commander Shepard?! Kaidan, are you kidding me?” It was said with a scolding anger that Shepard wasn’t expecting.

“Libby,” he said, already sounding exasperated. “I told you I was bringing someone.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t say it was Commander Shepard! The whole point of a wedding is to celebrate the people getting married. No one’s going to care about Derek and me with her here!”

Well, that explained the anger then. This was an issue that she hadn’t even considered. When she joined the Alliance, gaining celebrity status wasn’t exactly on the agenda, but she had gained it all the same. It was even one of the reasons she had opted to come with Kaidan instead of staying in one of the refugee camps. Libby’s concerns were warranted, considering how much of a problem her fame had become even before the end of the war. She couldn’t land on the Citadel without being stopped by a reporter or people wanting to talk to her. It was even a bit of a problem at the hospital where she was staying in London, but they at least had security. How could she have not thought of this complication when agreeing to go to a wedding of all things? The last thing she wanted to do was steal Libby’s thunder during her own wedding. This sure had turned into a colossal mess much faster than she expected. That didn’t change the fact that she was already here, though, stuck in this situation for better or worse.

Shepard heard more muffled conversation through the door, so she put her ear flush up against it to hear better.

“Libby, you are so missing the point. When has Kaidan ever brought anyone home? That means they’re serious. How could you not have told me?” 

That was definitely Maisie.

“Guys, I think everyone’s gotten the wrong ide-” Kaidan tried to cut in.

“Yeah, the Savior of the Galaxy, Kaidan? I don’t think any of us were expecting that.” It was Raiya this time.

“Hey, would you be quiet, please? She doesn’t like being called that. I didn’t bring her here to be paraded around. She’s still a real person underneath all of that, you know. It would be nice if you could all treat her like one.”

“Oooh, look at that, already coming to her defense. Kaidan’s got it bad. So just how serious are you two? Is there going to be another Alenko wedding in our future?”

“Guys, you’re all reading way too m-” He said, getting cut off yet again. He certainly came from a family of strong women, all fighting to be heard.

“All right! That’s enough. I swear, the moment all of you get into the same room together, it’s like you all revert back into being a bunch of wild children again,” Kaidan’s mother cut in. “Where have your manners gone? You’re almost all in your thirties for goodness sake. Whether you like it or not, Commander Shepard is a guest in our house, and we will treat her as such,” she scolded. It sounded like it did the trick if the following silence meant anything. “Kaidan, she seems lovely. I look forward to getting to know her better, but now, will everyone help me set the table. Please.” Shepard heard her huff out in exasperation.

That lecture wasn’t effective enough to completely stop the snarky behaviour, but everyone was speaking more quietly. It was harder to hear them through the door now. Shepard took that as reason enough to stop eavesdropping and finally went to relieve herself.

As soon as she was done and washed her hands, she exited the bathroom. She was almost startled by Kaidan pacing right in front of the door.

“Shepard, I think we have a problem.”

“So I heard,” she said, not being able to contain a smile. As much as this had become a stressful situation, the sheer absurdity of it was enough to make her want to laugh.

“Well, I’m glad you find it funny,” he said, her own smile bringing one out in him. “I’m really sorry. I can’t get a word in edgewise. I tried to tell them that we’re not - you know.”

“I heard. I know,” she assured him. She wanted him to know she didn’t harbour any ill will towards him over the confusion. “It was a simple misunderstanding. I’m sure we can smooth things over when they calm down.”

“If they ever calm down,” Kaidan huffed out seriously, as his gaze drifted off in frustration. “I haven’t seen them so determined to believe something before in my life.”

That didn’t bode well.

“I guess the most we can do is just keep emphasising that we’re not actually together,” he said. The words stung more than she expected. “Hopefully, they’ll get the picture eventually.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Shepard said, not sounding very enthusiastic about it, but it was all they had.

“I’m really sorry about the confusion. I really didn’t even think to mention it was you I was bringing. I guess to them, you’re still larger than life. To me, you’re my friend, which is who I said I was bringing. They somehow made up their own narrative about it. I didn’t think it needed to be explained more at the time. In hindsight, I can definitely see where I went wrong,” he said, sounding genuinely apologetic.

“It’s okay, Kaidan. I know you wouldn’t have done something like this on purpose. Don’t worry about it. We stick to the truth enough, I’m sure they’ll follow suit eventually.”

Kaidan nodded, still upset for having caused such a misunderstanding. “Okay,” he said, not sounding entirely convinced with the idea. “I guess we should get back to them. The table’s set, and they’re waiting for us.”

Shepard nodded in agreement, so Kaidan turned to lead them towards the dining room.

When they finally got there, Libby was still scathing. Definitely off on the wrong foot with her, it would seem. Shepard figured she’d have to try extra hard to get on her good side now, already tarnishing something that was supposed to be a special time for her. Kaidan’s mother and Maisie at least greeted her with a friendly smile that helped her feel welcome. Raiya was harder to grasp, not giving up any outward judgments through appearance alone. This was going to be one hell of a week. The silence was so awkward, Shepard just offered a smile to everyone for a moment, before glancing back to Kaidan for help.

“Uh, right. Well, is everyone ready to eat, then?” he asked, looking around the room. “Mom and Libby have been working on a big meal all morning.”

“Oh,” Shepard said, finally looking at the table setting. There was a big roast prepared and plenty of fresh vegetables and potatoes. It looked like quite the feast. “Everything looks amazing. I haven’t had a good, fresh meal in a long time.”

“Oh, well, in that case, let’s dig in, shall we?” Kaidan’s mother said with a big smile, proud of her accomplishments, and happy to see that her hard work would be appreciated by someone. She was the first to sit, taking the head of the table. “No need for manners now, just grab whatever you want,” she said, pointing to the chairs to prompt everyone to follow suit.

Jane looked at Kaidan to follow his direction. She wanted to make sure she wasn’t stealing anyone’s spot or stepping on even more toes. He quickly took notice that she was waiting for his lead, and went to pull out a chair for her.

“Oooh, look at that, Kaidan’s being such a gentleman,” Maisie said as she sat at the foot of the table.

“Yeah, about that,” Kaidan spoke up. “Shepard and I are not together,” he finally managed to get out without being interrupted. It was a relief to both of them.

“Oh come on,” Maisie said with a laugh as she started dishing some food onto her plate. “With the way you’ve been acting? There’s no way that’s true. If you’re just trying to downplay whatever’s going on between the two of you to avoid breaking the regs or something, you should know that your secret’s safe with us.”

Kaidan let out a sigh, and rubbed his forehead, hardly able to believe that this was happening.

“All right. That’s enough, Maisie. Leave them alone.”

Maisie finally listened to that well enough, but something about the whole situation didn’t seem very finalized.

Kaidan quickly acted as though everything was normal and plated some pot roast before passing it on to Shepard, which is when he broke into the conversation again. “We didn’t get to do any actual introductions, so--”

“Wait, no. I think I have a pretty good idea of who everyone must be,” Shepard said as she took a piece of the pot roast before passing the plate. She figured maybe showing a genuine interest in them might put her back on their good side.

“You have to be Maisie. Awesome hair, by the way,” she said with a genuine smile.

“Thank you,” Maisie said with a smile, glancing over to her sisters with an impressed look on her face.

Continuing around the table, “You must be Libby, and uh, I just wanted to say congratulations. This must be such an exciting time for you,” she said, trying to be extra nice.

Libby said a quiet ‘thanks’ as reciprocation, clearly not happy still, but at least trying to maintain pleasantries. Shepard just nodded at that, knowing that things weren’t going to be smoothed over for her unless she was assured that her wedding day could go off smoothly. That was an issue for another time, though.

“Raiya,” she said with a smile. Raiya just nodded, smiling back. Shepard still wasn’t exactly sure how to read her yet, but she supposed it was better than Libby. Shepard glanced at Kaidan for confirmation after that. The look he gave her was even more surprised than when he learned that she remembered all of their names. It was almost as though he hadn’t expected her to pay attention all those times he discussed his family with her. Especially not to have enough detail to have determined who everyone was on her own. She gave him a warm smile as she tried to move on to the last woman in the room.

“Not together, my ass,” Maisie mumbled under her breath in a way that was still audible to everyone else in the room, and Kaidan rolled his eyes.

Shepard wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so after a bit of an awkward pause, she continued. “And that leaves you, Mrs. Alenko. I’m sorry, but I never actually got your first name.”

“That was impressive. We’re a big group to have gotten everyone right. You can call me Ada.”

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet all of you,” Shepard said.

Maisie just stared at Shepard blankly before looking around the table. “Oh, come on! Seriously? They’re clearly together.”

Shepard and Kaidan shared a bit of a concerned look between the two of them. Apparently, her plan to get on everyone’s good side was just making this other issue of theirs worse, and now she regretted it.

“Just ignore her,” Ada interrupted. “What about you, though. Surely the great Commander Shepard must have a first name. It’s surprisingly well hidden from the public. I can’t say that I’ve ever heard it.”

Shepard had to laugh at that. It was somehow surprisingly well-hidden. Not only from the public, but even from people she was close to in her real life. Everyone had always called her Shepard ever since she was young. Likely a side effect of growing up in the military. Come to think of it, the only people that ever really called her Jane was her own mother, and Kaidan. Kaidan had only ever used that name briefly when they were together, though, and quickly reverted back to Shepard ever since.

“I do have one. Shocking, I know. It’s Jane.”

Ada gave her a genuine smile at that. “Well, it’s lovely to meet you, Jane.”

Shepard smiled back at the sincerity of it. She figured it must be strange to meet ‘Commander Shepard’ given her service record and media coverage. Maybe ‘Jane’ would be a little easier to see the person underneath all of that. This was supposed to be shore leave after all—a personal trip with a friend on top of that. If ever there was a time to put her rank aside and be Jane, it was now.

“The feeling is mutual. Kaidan’s told me so much about all of you. It’s nice to finally put faces to the names,” Shepard said.

Ada smiled at that, and everyone took a moment to eat. It took Maisie a second longer than everyone else to start eating as she sat there looking like she was about to burst. She clearly wanted to say more but didn’t want to be yelled at by her mother.

“Well, I hope you’re okay with waiting a bit before you can settle in. Kaidan only told us last night that he’d be bringing someone.”

“Sorry about that,” Shepard cut in. “You can blame that one on me. I was actually only just released from the hospital, so it was on short notice for everyone.”

“Oh no, I didn’t realise you were still recovering. Your injuries must have been quite serious.”

“You could say that,” Shepard said, warily, not really wanting to relive the worst of it right now. “I guess the important part is that I’m doing much better now,” she said, as she glanced over to Kaidan momentarily. She was almost surprised to see a look of genuine gratitude at the statement before she looked back to Ada. “I still need to be doing the exercises they’ve been teaching me in physical therapy, but I’ve been feeling much more like myself over the last month.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear you’re doing better,” she said with a warm smile. “Anyway, I hope you don’t mind sharing a room. With all of the kids back at the house again, we’re at capacity.”

Being a soldier, sleeping in close quarters with someone was hardly an issue. Her only problem with it was remembering what it felt like to wake up in the same room as him earlier that day back in Vancouver. It did nothing but make her feel worse about her current situation and constantly being reminded of her feelings for him. Then again, it was better than being temporarily homeless.

“No, that’s fine. Don’t even worry about it. I’m just thankful for the hospitality.”

Maisie flung her arms out in frustration, before crossing them indignantly, clearly wanting to say something again. Shepard mentally chastised herself for continuously shoving her foot deeper in her mouth.

“If I have anything to say about it, you’re always welcome here, Jane,” Ada said with a cheerful smile, completely ignoring her youngest child. “I’ll have your room ready in a few hours after I get a chance to wash the sheets and everything.”

“Oh, mom, that’s okay. You don’t have to go out of your way or anything. We can set up the room,” Kaidan cut in.

“No, no, don’t be silly. Your time here is so limited, and Jane’s a guest. You should take her around the property after lunch. There’s a lot to see. The apples aren’t quite ready to bloom yet, but the leaves have all come back and are such nice shades of green. The orchard looks so pretty. You should go enjoy yourselves.”

“Are you sure?” Kaidan asked. It almost looked like it pained him to think that he had inconvenienced his mom. Shepard wouldn’t put it past him. The man never liked to feel like he was a burden.

“Of course I’m sure, now quit asking.”

Kaidan nodded at that reluctantly, accepting that his mother wasn’t going to budge on the issue. 

Everyone continued with their lunch, having a passing conversation. Ada’s warm disposition was already making her feel incredibly welcome, so she figured that was at least one good thing out of this whole situation. As for everyone else, it seemed like she’d be keeping herself plenty busy trying to smooth things over.

[sepublic]

Voltron Season 8 Revision Ideas

Based on what I’ve seen, I’m DEFINITELY not the only person who was very unsatisfied with Voltron’s final season. And it’s not because of ships, either- There were just a lot of questionable plot threads, some of which were left empty, and other issues such as pacing. As I sat down afterwards and tried to figure out the exact issues I had with Season 8, I figured, why not make my own post on how things should’ve been handled? Because there ARE good things about this season, and I do feel that with some revisions, new scenes, cuts, etc., the finale of Voltron could just be a lot more satisfying.

Thus, I present my own modified version of Season 8. This is mostly a rough draft, and I’m open to other ideas and modifications to it!

-Episode 1

This episode is pretty much perfect, although one change I’d make is the ending. I won’t deny that this is me pretty much fan-servicing myself when I admit that the change is that Lance and Allura DON’T kiss, nor does their relationship get confirmed. Alas, I must admit that I’ve never cared for Allurance, and it certainly never helped that it felt rushed and at times one-sided. We see Lance do a LOT for Allura, but aside from showing him some tender affection, we never truly see Allura go out of her way to do stuff for Lance.

So in this version of the episode, after Lance gives his confession, Allura admits to him that she just doesn’t feel the same. She isn’t ready for this, she has a lot of doubt, it doesn’t feel right so soon after the whole Lotor incident… At first, Lance is unsure… but then he lets out a laugh of relief and admits that for some reason, this makes him feel relieved. He agrees with Allura that being just supportive friends with one another is all he really wants and needs, and he’s glad to get things over with. Thus, he and Allura hug things out.

Thankfully, for those who like Allurance, I’ve revised Season 8 so that it or any other Lance ship being canon, does NOT affect the plot.

-Episode 2

Again, this episode was almost perfect. However, this is where I make my first big plot adjustment- Namely, when Honerva arrives at Lotor’s ruined cruiser. Like before, she finds Kova… but she also finds Narti’s body, oddly still intact after all this time. With an idea, she takes Narti’s body with her as well.

When Honerva does her ritual to find Lotor and Sincline in the rift, the ritual involves her using Narti’s bond and deep loyalty to Lotor. And in this version, the ritual does NOT kill Kova (or Narti, for that matter). Then Honerva just stuffs Narti into a healing pod or something. Also, there are still Druids serving Honerva.

-Episode 3

This episode was basically perfect. Honestly, the only change I can think of making is making all of the preceding events a bit shorter, if only to have more horror movie shenanigans with the Super Weapon.

-Episode 4

This is where I make my first MAJOR revisions towards the season. If I’m going to be honest, this episode REALLY dragged on. It felt unnecessary to have all of this delay and separated flashbacks, to just show the Komar Robeast grabbing the cubes. Likewise, it really bothered me that the Olkari left the planet and never came back- At first I assumed it would be because the Robeast was going to suck the planet dry of quintessence… but it doesn’t.

In fact, all it does is break a lot of buildings -which IS bad, but not THAT bad- and then take the cubes. That’s it. It’s just… one city. On an entire planet- Why did they feel the need to abandon the planet completely? Why was the entire planet so gray? And it felt unsatisfying to never see Reyner and the Olkarions again, so as far as we know they’re still stranded in space on evacuation ships. Like, what? Additionally, the whole Weblum introduction dragged on a bit too long.

So, new change- Voltron arrives on the planet, but it’s COMPLETELY sucked dry and dessicated. Pidge does the flashback thing, only it has to happen, like… only twice. And at the end of the flashback, the Komar Robeast also drains Olkari’s quintessence. Reyner dies, because angst. Pidge mourns, and then the Weblum arrives- But the planet is so dessicated that it leaves, because THAT’s how drained and dry it’s become. Even the Weblum can’t make anything of what is left- Truly destructive.

In the remaining time of the episode, we also see Honerva peering further into the rift, and catching glimpses of the Rift Entity or something. While on the Atlas, the team is all solemn, and they’re all talking about their next plan of action. Keith says something clumsy, and Matt pointedly reminds him about the time Keith tried to do a kamikaze attempt. Everyone else is shocked, Keith is flustered, and everyone is forced to confront this fact, including Krolia and Kolivan. Kolivan at first admonishes Keith, before apologizing and lamenting his mistake. We also see Lance support Keith afterwards.

Perhaps to end off the episode, we cut to Merla, who thinks back to her own interactions with Lotor. Turns out, the two had a friendship similar to when Lotor and Ven-tar hung out.

-Episode 5

Basically, the entire episode is different. The crew of the Atlas is at a market for certain supplies, when they get ambushed by Ezor and Zethrid’s group (On a note, the two don’t have injuries from the explosion because that’s just mean). At first they’re very aggressive and there’s a brief clash, but then Acxa steps in to negotiate. Zethrid and Ezor get REALLY confrontational about her siding with Keith, who is there with Krolia. At this point Acxa decides now’s a good time to reveal the truth; She is Keith’s sister.

Everyone is shocked, and then Krolia mutters a name we don’t recognize, unsure. Acxa confirms it, and then we get some insight into Acxa’s backstory. She was Krolia’s original daughter, but her apparent death helped motivate Krolia to fight against the Empire as a Blade. Turns out- Acxa survived, and assumed a different identity. Her injuries were really bad, especially to her face, so she basically had to get a new one. Acxa ALSO had amnesia from the incident.

More backstory, and Acxa joins Lotor. She later meets Keith in the Weblum, and is disturbed by how he reminds her of someone she doesn’t know… Either way, she feels personally obligated to look out for him. During the three year period where Voltron vanished, she managed to get her memories back.

She admits that she was unsure about how to tell Keith and Krolia about this. Ezor and Zethrid are still baffled. Krolia just embraces Acxa, calling her by her real name, and Keith follows. Ezor and Zethrid now feel like they can’t exactly fight Acxa and her family, and Acxa mentions that they need help taking down Honerva, who they KNOW abused Lotor.

Ezor and Zethrid hesitate and decide to think about it. They call off their group and head elsewhere into the market. The Atlas crew realizes they still need the supplies and continue on, while Acxa awkwardly talks with Keith and Krolia.

Cut to Ezor and Zethrid, who are discussing with one another. Here, we get the chance to see THEIR backstories. After their stories, we also cut to Narti, dormant within her healing pod at Oriande, dreaming… And we see HER story as a chimera shock trooper created by the empire. We eventually cut back to the market, and the Voltron Coalition is boarding the Atlas when Ezor and Zethrid arrive, pledging their support. As a bonus, we also get an awkward interaction between Coran and Blofar, and the Holts and the Lizard Bounty Hunter.

-Episode 6

Basically the same. We also have Ezor, Zethrid, and Acxa trying to reach out to Lotor. When Sincline emerges, it touches Oriande and gets imbued with energy- In this version of the episode, the White Lion Guardian lives. The implication is that it, and other Lion spirits, have now become one with Sincline.

-Episode 7

Potentially the same, for now. I like the insight into Kinkade’s personality. Even if I decide to give this episode the boot in a future revision, I AM keeping in the Seok Jin tribute. That will remain, no matter what.

-Episode 8

This time, the episode starts off with the Atlas crew already at the Clear Day festival, helping out. Shiro is saying stuff, telling everyone to help out, and Burr kind of passively-aggressively confronts Shiro about their previous absence, being all ‘Look who decided to show up’ without actually physically confronting Shiro with body language or eye contact.

We basically get SOME of the carnival bit, but with stuff cut out. The whole Hunk and Keith thing is gone, we see more of N-7 and Curtis, Rolo is confirmed alive and well, maybe learn about Shiro and his past and family. Lance getting a prize for Allura is also a dropped subplot. If he DOES try to win a game, he does well, mostly because I really like this one headcanon someone else came up with about Lance learning how to win at those carnival games for his little niece and nephew.

The episode is mostly concerned about Allura, the Rift Entity, the Alteans, Lotor, and Narti. We have Allura staying behind on the Atlas when Tavo speaks up, only to die. Allura saves him, and removes the Rift Entity from Tavo. Tavo comes to and she and Tavo discuss it, and consider the very painful procedure of letting the other Alteans die, only to bring them back so they can be free from Honerva’s control. These Alteans consent.

Cut to Oriande, and Lotor wakes up and sees Honerva. He initially attacks in a berserk rage, but when he sees Merla, he calms down and realizes himself in mourning, asking who it was he killed.

Honerva interrupts him and dismisses Merla, noting that Sincline is impressive and seems to have reformatted itself while in the rift, now sporting a pair of wings. When she removed Lotor from Sincline, it split into five ships- The Torso Ship, the Arm Ship, the Leg Ship, the Wing Ship, and the Tail Ship.

Honerva marvels at the Sincline Ships and notes that they will be most useful in creating a permanent rift like the one in Daibazaal. Lotor is livid at this and refuses to help her, but Honerva reminds him that she has his colony hostage, as well as the truth of his experiments. And, to seal the deal…

Some Druids cart in Narti in her healing pod, Kova following. Lotor is shocked and the pod comes out, and Narti emerges, stumbling out. Lotor catches her, and Narti is at first confused- But then she remembers what happened and backs away from a hurt and conflicted Lotor. She notices Honerva and tries to strike at her, but Honerva basically flings her aside, causing Narti to crash into the Tail Ship. 

There’s a brief vision of the Tail Ship’s spirit, which disorients Narti- But then she’s frozen in place by Honerva. Kova is hissing at his former master and Lotor wants to do a lot, but it’s no use. Meanwhile, it turns out that Merla has still been there right outside the room, listening in, when Honerva also reminds Lotor of his second colony experiments, shocking Merla. She compares herself to Lotor, but Lotor defiantly explains just WHY he did the things he did- Before calming down and ultimately giving into his guilt and insecurity. Honerva has Lotor and Narti taken to separate cells, giving Narti a discarded Sentry head to talk with mockingly, and keeps a hostile Kova nearby.

Merla turns away, unsure and in intense thought- But then she hears Honerva heading to the room’s entrance and hurries away. Meanwhile, Honerva briefly struggles -It’s revealed that since the Oriande incident, she’s been flickering between past and occasionally future versions of herself- and keeps having glimpses of the Rift Entity.

-Episode 9

The Voltron Coalition analyzes the Rift Entity. Meanwhile, Lotor and Narti are in adjacent cells, with Narti angrily calling Lotor out on everything. Lotor is saddened and apologizes, and Narti begins to hear him cry from within her cell. Lotor admits that the security the power offered him seemed so tempting…

Suddenly, Merla comes in. Turns out, while eavesdropping on Honerva, Honerva told the Druids to take Lotor and Narti to a certain part of Oriande, instructing them to tell everyone else not to enter due to some other reason.

Merla reveals that she knows the truth, and Lotor’s head hangs down. She confronts him as well, before sighing and admitting that while she can never trust Lotor the way she used to, she can at least trust him more than she can Honerva- It’s clear what Honerva really wants, and she begins to suspect of her lies. Lotor confirms that no, Voltron is not evil, although hesitates to mention Allura. The trio hear the Druids heading near, and Merla gets away while Narti asks Lotor about the others.

Merla is mingling with the other Alteans, and we see how they’re living. She finds a trusted friend and secretly confides with him/her in secret what she learned. The friend is shocked at Lotor’s crimes, and Merla admits she is angry- But they have a greater issue at hand to deal with. She notes, carefully, that perhaps they should all be prepared to turn on Honerva, and suggests warming everyone up to the idea by pretending to innocently question why Honerva won’t let them see Lotor and whatnot.

Later that night, Lotor and Narti are asleep, as are Acxa, Zethrid, and Ezor. Cut to the garage, and the Sincline Ships suddenly glow. Cue the visions of Team Sincline with their respective spirits, and then suddenly they’re all in the Astral Plane with their spirits, and see one another, Kova included.

Lead to a VERY interesting reunion between the five. A, E, and Z are baffled at Narti’s return, and are also confrontational towards Lotor. Eventually, however, things cool down. Lotor apologizes, and although Team Sincline isn’t quite there at a proper reunion, things are better.

Lotor then questions how they’re here, when a heavenly, divine voice comes in from above, heralded by light. This voice announces them each as the Paladins of Sincline, gifting each of them bayards, whilst discussing the attributes of each Sincline Ship. Team Sincline is surprised and wary at this voice, and before they can ask more, the dream ends. Before it does, the voice tells them to instruct Voltron on contacting her again for guidance.

Team Sincline wakes up, and tells everyone the news. At first they’re unsure on how to handle this info, but Allura decides it must be real. After all, Sincline was made of the same ore as Voltron… Allura further hypothesizes that the White Lion spirit, as well as others, have now been imbued in the Sincline Ships, and wonders if this is how the Voltron Lions became sentient.

The coalition muses over this, and the three members of Sincline remind them of the voice’s message. Deciding that Voltron is the key, the team forms together in the original configuration, with Shiro and Allura in the Black Lion, and are taken into the astral plane. Realizing they need to ascend even higher, the team goes through a very spiritual journey of sorts, trying to reach the voice as they hear more of her.

Meanwhile, Honerva tries to get Lotor to activate Sincline for her, even as she has construction of her own mech begin. Merla and her friends succeed in turning favor against Honerva in an innocent manner, with Merla at one point being asked by an Altean child if Honerva can be trusted- Merla pretends to be baffled by this question, before considering.

The Druids report this to Honerva, who is getting angrier at Lotor- Only the Torso Ship is responding to him. Honerva gets angrier and flickers into her pre-corruption state, stating she is Lotor’s mother, and a shocked Lotor shakes his head and denies it. Honerva has Lotor dragged back to his cell, deciding that she can make him do it when the time is right. As the Druids tell her of the Alteans and their musings, Honerva brushes it aside, clearly struggling. At one point she flickers to herself as a child, and her past self and current self briefly clash before she goes back to her regular form. Exhausted, Honerva goes back to her quarters.

At the end of the episode, the Paladins go beyond the Astral Plane with the power of the Lions, and are in some other place with strange souls mingling about… They question where they are, when they get separated. As they wander, they come across individual souls… And then see the original Paladins of Voltron, sans Zarkon.

-Episode 10

The Paladins are shocked, wondering how this can be. The previous generation is also confused, although Alfor is happy to be with Allura and vice-versa. They embrace one another.

We then cut to the original stories of the three other paladins, and Alfor likewise reminisces on his past with Honerva. Meanwhile, Ezor, Zethrid, and Acxa discuss trusting Lotor again, and they once again recall the times they met him. They hesitate.

The Paladins reunite and realize that they’re in some sort of afterlife, a spiritual realm… As they travel, Shiro is reunited with Adam, and the two make amends over their previous conflict and gain closure, kissing for one last time. The Paladins also meet Ven-tar, who wants them to tell Lotor that he doesn’t need to be guilty about his failure, and that his original colony still loves him. The group keeps traveling, and we get cameos of other deceased characters such as Antok, Sanda, etc. Soon after, they get attacked by the soul of Myzax, who is later joined by Sendak and Zarkon, and perhaps others.

The team form a spiritual Voltron and fight Zarkon’s spirit-mech, defeating him. Out comes innocent Zarkon, until Allura reminds him of his crimes. Zarkon cries in remorse (Sendak is also purified, sort of) and Allura notes that if he truly feels sorry, he should help.

Zarkon does help, and with the strength of the past and current generations of Voltron, they finally connect to the voice. We see a bright light manifest, and she reveals herself as the Lion Goddess- The same one that the Arusians had mistaken Allura for.

The Paladins are all fazed and asking questions, but it’s worse when the Lion Goddess decides to take a form they are more comfortable with, and becomes Melenor. Now Allura and Alfor are REALLY baffled, and LG explains.

The Lion Goddess is one side in an eternal conflict between life and death, creation vs entropy, etc., and her enemy is the Rift Entity, whom she notes tempted Zarkon and Honerva, and nearly seized Lotor as well. She explains how the two have attempted to tip the balance in their own favor, and now the Rift Entity seeks to do this by having Honerva tear open an even bigger, permanent rift to let it enter this reality.

By destroying this reality, the Rift Entity will be able to tip the balance, leading to a chain of events that will result in the total annihilation of existence. LG admits that she’s clashed with RE many times, in different battlefields, or realities, the two sending their own chess pieces against one another.

To find help, LG took the form of an Altean and traversed this reality until she met Alfor. Smitten with him, she married, and the two seemed happy… Until the trans-reality comet, AKA Voltron, one of LG’s warriors, was struck by the Rift Entity. Wounded, it fell and accidentally pierced the fabric of reality, opening the rift and allowing RE a chance to enter.

Alfor notes that it was ‘Melenor’s’ help that helped him find Oriande. He and Allura are really confused and unsure how to feel, and LG apologizes, genuinely mournful, for her manipulation. She continued to guide Alfor and the Paladins into creating Voltron and beating back RE, but RE managed to keep its sway on Zarkon and Honerva.

LG admitted that she wished she could have done more to stop THAT tragedy, but she was limited. She only operated, separate from reality, through the avatar of Melenor, unlike RE which was able to enter reality more tangibly. LG nevertheless explains the role of Voltron -as well as SINCLINE, she reminds them- in helping her keep RE from tipping the balance.

Alfor, distressed, calls out his wife, demanding to know if he and Allura were really loved, or just pawns in this game. LG mournfully agrees that she asked herself this question, which is why she has no intention of trying to tip the balance in her favor once RE is stopped. As far as she is concerned, she only wants to help everyone defend reality. Actually tipping things in her own favor, she may not even bother in any more.

Alfor and Allura are shocked by everything, and everything is quiet… Suddenly, the connection wavers, and LG reminds the Paladins that they hold a part of the RE on their ship. Concerned, the Paladins decide to return to their reality, but not before Allura, Alfor, and Melenor have one last hug. The OG generation bids the new one luck, especially a repentant Zarkon, who offers some advice about Honerva’s personality to help.

The team’s consciousness returns to this reality, when the Rift Entity’s fragment breaks from the Atlas and heads into space, attacking Voltron. A brief fight ensues, but Voltron easily wins. However, Allura worriedly notes that they still have to stop Honerva, and questions if Voltron can challenge the entirety of the Rift Entity. In response, one of the others notes that they won’t be alone- They have Sincline.

(There’s also a brief bit where Lotor dreams again and is attempting to solidify his connection with the Torso Ship. It fails at first, until he has the same test he had in Oriande. Instead of fighting, he accepts the Lion spirit into himself, and when he wakes up, we see a shot of the Torso Ship briefly lighting up the way the Lions’ eyes do.)

-Episode 11

Honerva believes Tavo and his team are dead, which provides an important advantage. With Zarkon’s advice, as well as help from Merla and the dream-collaborating Team Sincline, the Voltron Coalition forms a plan.

They know Honerva is planning to use Sincline to open the Rift- If that doesn’t work, it turns out she’s can use the Olkari cubes to launch a blast of energy at Sincline, causing its ore’s reality-splicing properties to activate enough for Honerva to use, regardless. And sure enough, the Olkari cubes have been incorporated into Honerva’s new mech.

The protagonists form a battle plan that involves sneaking Romelle and Coran into Oriande and rallying everyone against Honerva. After the planning, Allura also makes sure to tell Lotor about Ven-tar’s support, which leads to a very emotional and profound moment for himself. Meanwhile, Honerva attempts to open cold interaction with Kova, who just hisses. Unimpressed, Honerva transports Oriande to Altea’s coordinates at the time of its destruction, but is also struggling with her time-warping. The Rift Entity reaches out to her and promises to bring her all-knowing and, best of all, the love and appreciation of her family.

Romelle and Coran manage to fly into Oriande with a stealth ship, sensors overlooking them at Merla’s sabotage. Using their camouflage abilities, they sneak about, trying to figure out how to get Lotor and Narti with their ships, along with the rest of Team Sincline.

Things get sabotaged when Honerva catches the two in front of the entire colony. The colony calls Romelle and Coran traitors, but they speak for themselves and tell the truth. Merla remains silent, just in case the protagonists need her to keep doing inside work.

As the colony gets confused, Honerva prepares to kill them, siccing the Druids on the two. To everyone’s surprise, Coran proves himself quite capable, actually managing to kill a Druid with a luxite blade, noting their absorbing properties, before slashing the mask of one off. Coran is at first horrified at the face like always, until the Druid darkly wonders if he’s THAT unrecognizable…

To Coran’s horror, he recognizes the Druid as one of his colleagues back on Altea, and it’s revealed that the Druids were all Alteans who followed Haggar and served the Galra Empire. Their overexposure to Quintessence and experiments ravaged their forms- Although Honerva’s connection with the Rift Entity kept her somewhat stable and recognizable, the others… not so much.

Coran is so horrified that he fails to notice Honerva, who impales him from behind with an energy blade. As Romelle helps a wounded Coran, Honerva tells them that this is the end, even as she flickers.

The Alteans are REALLY beginning to doubt Honerva, when Lotor and Narti suddenly barge in with the Torso and Tail Ships, firing at Honerva and the Druids. At the same time, a wormhole near Oriande opens, and in comes the Atlas, Voltron Lions, and the rest of their gathered allies.

Lotor denounces Honerva in front of the colony, who turns on her- But Honerva simply goes to the top of Oriande with her Druids, more or less barricading that area off as she prepares her own mech.

It activates, and she begins opening the rift, even as Druids operate the Komar Robeasts against the coalition. A battle ensues, and Voltron attempts to fight Honerva in her mech. Meanwhile, the rest of Team Sincline reunites, with Allura in tow- Allura decided that she NEEDED to be there for her people, and so let the team take the original configuration with Shiro in charge while she deals with the situation in Oriande.

Lotor bows to her and admits the truth of the second colony, even as Allura steps forth and announces herself as the rightful queen of Altea. She asks the Alteans, unlike Honerva, if they will take her… and they all agree. While feelings are mixed towards Lotor, he doesn’t care- Allura is back with her people. Meanwhile, Honerva watches from afar and is less than pleased.

The coalition tries to stop Honerva, but she manages to seep her claws into Voltron and hijack its energy. The rift is opened, and out comes the Rift Entity itself. 

-Episode 12

A triumphant Honerva announces the end of this reality, noting she will only save a few certain parts of it for herself. RE bonds with her and her mech, creating a massive titan of destruction with Honerva at the core. Honerva is lulled into a blissful illusion of a reality where she and Zarkon never turned evil and raised Lotor happily, with Sendak there as well.

Voltron is at first easily repelled by RE, and Atlas attempts to clash with it when the lions split. Team Sincline all get into their ships, and are forced to ask one another if they can truly trust each other. A heartfelt moment is had, and Ezor, the heart of the group, rouses the team together. They get into their ships, even as Merla takes Coran to be healed. Lotor asks if the generals are sure, and they agree. Genuinely happily, Lotor chuckles and tells them to follow him, and the Sincline Ships fly off.

Atlas is badly wounded against RE, who tosses it aside. Voltron reforms to fight it and has problems, until the Sincline Ships arrive as reinforcements. At first it works, but it’s not enough, and so Lotor calls his team to fly in formation, and form Sincline!

Voltron and Sincline, the latter of whom has upgrades thanks to the bayards, fight, and Voltron unlocks its upgrades from the rift once more against RE. Meanwhile, Krolia, Kolivan, and Lahn rally the fractured Galra Empire, giving proof to Lotor’s return, and notes that the fleet must give aid. (We get cameos of familiar Galra such as Throk, his glowy-clawed friend, and Morvok)

Back in Oriande, the rebels such as Matt and whatnot join Merla and the other Alteans in fending off the Druids within. Voltron and Sincline are doing fine at first, but then more Druids and their Komar Robeasts make things harder.

Suddenly, in flies the ENTIRE Galra fleet, just about every ship in what was the empire! Rallying under Lotor, they fire on the Komar Robeasts full force, pinning them down under their combined fire power. Voltron and Sincline continue their fight against RE, and to keep it from killing everyone else, they push it and themselves into the rift.

They battle in a special area within the quintessence field against the RE, and with the power of the Lion Goddess flowing through them, Voltron and Sincline fuse, with Allura acting as a conduit of LG’s power and a link between the two mechs.

The Warrior of Light (it’s a working name) thus goes into battle against the Rift Entity.

-Episode 13

WoL does a fantastical battle against the Rift Entity, against a gorgeous backdrop. As WoL inflicts more damage upon RE, with the two teams within working in coordination, we cut to Honerva. She’s busy minding herself, enjoying her paradise, when suddenly there are cracks. Glitches. Empty, missing holes. Things start shaking, and we briefly cut and flicker to reality as Honerva’s blissful lie falls apart.

Cut back to WoL, which keeps fighting with some of the best fight choreography in the series- Like, a lot of budget is sunk into this. Eventually WoL manages to cleave open RE’s chest and plunges its sword into its core. This links the minds of Team Voltron and Sincline with Honerva, and they both appear in the Astral Plane.

Honerva, snapping back to reality, is now VERY pissed at the Paladins for disrupting her fantasy. Flickering between different states of herself, and even different realities, Honerva is becoming all the more unstable in every sense of the word. The Paladins of Voltron and Sincline fight Honerva in a non-mech fight on the Astral Plane, combining their skill sets together, with Allura leading the offense and gradually overwhelming Honerva, forcing her to use all of her strength. Keith also gets the chance to go full Galra.

Finally, Allura lands a powerful blow on Honerva, who staggers- Then screams with a resounding force, sending the Paladins flying. Cut to the quintessence field and WoL is sent flying back, sword free from RE as RE recuperates and heals the wound. Distorted by Honerva’s rage and insanity, it morphs into an even more terrifying, avian/dragon form and continues battle.

Back in our reality, Oriande is quickly being seized. The Druids make a final stand, and Krolia and Kolivan manage to avenge the deaths of so many Blades who died.

Cut back to WoL’s battle against RE. RE is lashing out with greater intensity, but the Paladins refuse to give up, even combining the abilities of Voltron and Sincline in ways they could never have imagined. With cunning wit and coordination, the Paladins manage to cleave open RE and pierce its core once more.

Back to the Astral Plane, but Honerva is REALLY messed up now, even more so than ever. Her soul seems to have taken a form inspired by the Rift Entity, a demonic, abstract ghost that provides even more of a challenge. Once again the Paladins keep fighting, and finally Allura lands another big blow.

Honerva’s soul backs down… And once AGAIN it lashes out, suddenly slamming tendrils of dark energy into the faces of all of the Paladins. The corruption of the Rift Entity begins seeping into them as they all fall to their knees, one by one. RE appeals to each person’s insecurities, their desires, offering ways to fulfill them through the power it grants. All the paladins are engulfed as the Lion Goddess tries to call out to them, and only Allura is left…

She gets visions… Little paradises cleverly woven by the Rift Entity. Promising her a reality with Altea, with Alfor, with a Melenor that actually fit what Allura believed in. All so tempting…

Allura is actually swayed at first, and she closes her eyes… But then she opens them and asks of her friends, one by one. RE attempts to sway Allura by promising them, but then Allura keeps mentioning different people, even as she remembers. And then, there, she decides she will not fall prey to the same fate that befell Honerva and Zarkon. With the power of the Lion Goddess flowing through her, she purges the Rift Entity from her system, even as she reaches out to Lotor.

Lotor, who is clinging to the illusion of power because he hopes it will bring him safety, hears Allura’s call and remembers that he doesn’t NEED nor want the Rift Entity’s influence. And soon, he breaks free. Lotor then calls out to another Paladin, and so forth, until everyone is freed, each person making a declarative statement that summarizes their character development, values, and the bonds they share with their team (Probably the same quotes from the Season 8 trailer).

The dark cloud enveloping the Astral Plane bursts, clearing to free the Paladins. All that’s left is Honerva’s distorted soul. At first the others want to continue fighting the conventional way, but Allura realizes that their method won’t work- It’ll just be a never-ending cycle of WoL attempting to take down RE, with the Paladins fighting Honerva in the Astral Plane, and her forcing them out, and so forth. There’s only ONE way to end this forever, to right the balance and end the conflict…

She reaches out with her hand, even as Honerva lunges, and light engulfs the two. Suddenly we see regular Honerva, surprised, looking around, yelling at the paladins, promising to destroy them, when she sees her young self. Surprised, the two interact, and her young self asks her innocuous questions about her ruthlessness, about what she’s doing, the point of it all.

Honerva attempts to justify herself by stating that she’ll know better, only to see the other past selves linking her innocence to now, all of them asking the same question, none knowing why. Honerva realizes then and there that she DOESN’T know… and maybe never will. Sure enough, Allura’s influence shows her the most tender parts of her life, the things that made her decide knowledge was worth seeking…

She remembers her hopes. Her times with Zarkon, preparing for Lotor’s birth. Honerva realizes that she keeps wanting to END the cycle of pain, to explain it all the way… but never does, and Allura arrives and confirms this.

Allura reaches her hand out, and Honerva reaches out for it… but in her mindscape, everything darkens as RE attempts to reassert its grip on her. Honerva hesitates, looking back and seeing the reflection of Haggar… and up ahead, she sees the person she used to be.

Honerva, as she is in season 8, is the neutral alignment trapped between the two fates of what COULD be her, as is reflected in her appearance. And as she realizes what could happen, what she COULD do… somewhere, from beyond time and space, beyond reality, beyond everything itself, a voice calls out…

Zarkon.

And at that moment, Honerva knows.

She takes Allura’s hand.

A bright flash of light, and suddenly WoL is standing in front of a collapsing, boiling RE. Allura wakes up to see a surprised Honerva there (Within WoL, all of the Paladins operate in a singular core room where they can interact). Honerva and Lotor share looks, but don’t say much else as what’s left of RE regathers itself and attempts one final barrage of power. Yet, it is no match- The Paladins, Honerva, they fire back with a beam of energy, and they soon think of all of the people they know, loved, and so forth, and they, too, subconsciously give their energy to the beam until it completely overwhelms the Rift Entity, finally destroying its excess hold on the scales and setting the balance back.

We cut back to our reality as everyone nervously awaits for the paladins to return, wondering what is happening as they peer into the rift… And then suddenly it widens, and out comes the Warrior of Light!

As everyone cheers, the Warrior of Light turns around and seals the rift, even as the Lion Goddess thanks the Paladins and gives them her eternal blessing. Allura, exhausted, lets go of the connection, and Voltron and Sincline unfuse, drifting through space, exhausted. Allura and Honerva are seen floating between the two mechs.

...Cut to some time later.

Allura is the new Queen of Altea, with her advisors Coran, Romelle, and Merla (whose clothes resemble her DotU incarnation). The colony has now accepted Allura, and have a new home on a planet rechristened New Altea. The royal palace is none other than the repurposed Oriande.

Lotor has reclaimed the Galra Empire as his own. He knows that the Altean Colony may not ever forgive him for what he’s done… But as far as he’s concerned, he’s fine. Because they’re happily living, free for the first time in generations. And that’s all he really ever wanted. (As a plus, he also has his Altean Marks permanently visible)

The Paladins of Voltron? They’ve basically retired, thanks to Sincline having their backs. Now, they’re pursuing their dreams;

Shiro is still Captain of the Atlas, and continuing to do what he loves best by exploring space- But not before having the biggest, longest, most relaxing and self-servicing vacation EVER.

Pidge is with her family, collaborating on the latest technologies.

Hunk acts as both an ambassador AND a chef, catering to others and helping with the engineering of the Atlas.

Keith and the Blade of Marmora are helping rehabilitate the Empire and reteaching it its lost ways, culture, history, etc.

Lance is a pilot, exploring space and tending to exotic space gardens with his family on the Atlas.

...Okay, the Paladins haven’t ACTUALLY retired, nor split up. They’re still having adventures together on the Atlas, occasionally arriving back at Earth to rest. But they’re together, right? And the universe, is at peace…

Team Sincline now takes priority as the new defenders of the universe, and Keith helps his sister Acxa on the whole being a paladin thing. Should the occasion call for it, Voltron could also be reformed… but at the same time, the opportunity for the MFE cadets becoming the new paladins is also open as well. A big speech is held with Lotor and Allura as they look forward to a new dawn of the universe, an actual, happy ending…

Finally, we find out what happened to Honerva- Lotor chose to spare her, not necessarily out of kindness. She is being kept in the ultimate, maximum-security prison. Purged of the Rift Entity’s influence, she is powerless and no longer a threat.

Allura reminds Lotor that he’s not obligated to forgive Honerva for what she’s done, and Lotor reminds her that, no, he hasn’t. But he admits that having time to sit down, and reflect… Has done many things for himself, and he feels it can do the same for others as well.

Honerva dwells in her cell, reflecting on her actions, before smiling- She has had her fair share of regrets, undoubtedly. But now, it seems that Lotor, at least… can now be happy.

And on the anniversary of that final battle, everyone is hanging out at a big celebration. Ezor and Zethrid? Totally an item. Same goes for Veronica and Acxa. Keith and Lance sit together to talk things out, noting how one has always been there for the other…

At that moment, the sky lights up as everyone looks up in wonder, and they see a constellation light show sent to them by the Lion Goddess as a final tribute to the Paladins. Everyone celebrates, and as the light show goes on, Keith and Lance lean in and kiss, thanking one another and saying a final, really sentimental line or something.

Cue end credits! But at the very, VERY end is a final scene… of Bob literally just watching all of this on an old TV with Norflox, remarking on how that was a GOOD show, and whatnot. Then he wonders what else there is to do, and Norflox makes a lame suggestion. Bob sighs, and decides it’s a good idea, before signing off to the audience, personally addressing them.

The end.

...So, what do you guys think? This is my idea for a potential rewrite/revision of Voltron Season 8. It basically has everything I actually wanted in Voltron’s final season, but if anyone has any ideas or modifications they’d like to make, I’m all ears!

[douxreviews]

Star Trek: Discovery - ‘Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2′ Review

"Let's see what the future holds."

By nature I love brevity: Star Trek: Discovery delivers on the promises of the season in its dramatic finale that warps off into Season Three ready to try something new. My predictions were mostly correct, with a few surprises. Some of those surprises were substantially more welcome than others.

Last week's episode made us a whole lot of promises and set up a lot of things to happen here. All the emotional stakes of that episode hinged on the fulfillment of those promises and set-ups, though, so no matter what, if they didn't follow through we were going to feel cheated. I went into this finale with a small bit of trepidation that they might fake us out and not deliver, but those fears were happily quashed. If nothing else, I want to applaud the show for delivering on its promises, and for doing so in a way that provided entertainment and diversion for an hour and left me feeling mostly satisfied.

But, of course, I do have to talk about what went wrong. Most of this episode's problems, and indeed the whole season's problems, are the result of logical inconsistencies. For example, if they had a map of the red bursts the whole time, why couldn't they figure out where each burst was going to appear? Even if they didn't know which burst corresponded to which one on the map, after the first three they should have known the location of all seven. That was the main thing about the season as a whole that bothered me.

The biggest and most egregious problem in 'Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2' is the entire situation involving Cornwell and the torpedo. How contrived can you get, really? This seems to me to be the most stupid and pointless sacrifice since Captain America: The First Avenger, and it's certainly the dumbest thing this show has ever done. I can't even begin to fathom why anyone would think that little tiny door could do anything at all when we were told it would take out four decks/half the ship. If the door is so powerful, why isn't the whole ship made out of the same material? How is the window still intact after the blast? For that matter, why the actual heck did they put a window in a blast door? Even the reason Cornwell decided to stick around in that room with the torpedo was hopelessly contrived. Pike made some very good points about time travel and his future, and she dismissed them for no reason at all. Very disappointing and completely unnecessary. Jayne Brook and Admiral Cornwell deserve way better.

The second major issue involves Controlland and his death. First and foremost, if the Control AI was destroyed when Georgiou killed it, why do they even still need to go to the future? If destroying Control was as easy as magnetizing a whatever for a few minutes, why not focus your efforts on that rather than the time travel stuff? They even had a golden opportunity to solve all these problems and bring back some nice continuity at the same time. Why not just have Georgiou use the spores to send Controlland somewhere else, like Lorca did with Burnham way back in 'Context is for Kings'? Plus, the magnetizing the whatever solution is really dumb and sounds contrived.

All this makes it sound like I hated 'Sorrow II.' I didn't. It was largely entertaining, and despite those two major things that grated on me and a few other minor gripes, the finale did its job well. It managed partly to earn the melodrama of 'Sorrow I' and to wrap up the season's arcs in a neat and tidy manner. Let me dive further into the things I liked.

Firstly, Olatunde Osunsamni's direction was on point this week. His stylistic, swooping camera and weird, dynamic directorial choices are actually really well-suited to big action setpieces like this one. While I may not like his apparent vow to never allow the camera to be still at any moment, even in dialogue or other low-energy sequences, Osunsamni gets to infuse his energy here into a show that warrants it. On that same note, all the action was quite good and interesting to watch. The production values on this show continue to be absolutely through the roof, and it works really, really well.

I also loved, though it can very easily be dismissed as fan service, the ending with Pike, Spock, and the Enterprise. The show is certainly leaning into fan hopes for a show centered around them, for no clear reason. Clearly, they could very well do something like that, and it would be highly anticipated and probably very well received. It's ultimately up to the producers, but I really think that if they do intend to do it, it will have to be really far down the pipeline. If it were coming in the near future, we'd have heard something of it by now.

The portion of the end that deals with Discovery's supposed breaches of canon was a long time in coming. I think I'd made my peace that time travel would fix it all about a month ago, so bringing my feelings about it back is a bit difficult. If the writers had all this planned from the beginning, then kudos to them. If not, then at least they found a decent way to fix everything they'd broken. One of the things that's in the grand tradition of Star Trek is taking mistakes and discrepancies and using them for the benefit of later stories, so I'm quite pleased that this occurred here. Did they have to force it because it was necessary for the show? Yes. But let's not lose sight of the fact that it was necessary for the show.

A few surprises lurked in this episode, even though the resolution went more or less as anticipated. The first of these was that Georgiou was on the Disco as it went off into the wild blue yonder. I had expected, since Michelle Yeoh's Section 31 series is coming, that Georgiou would be left behind in the past in light of that. Not so here. This raises many questions about that Section 31 show, what Yeoh's role in it will be, and how she will play into DIS Season 3, so many that I won't go into them all here. Suffice it to say, I was surprised, and I will be interested to see where it goes from here.

Secondly, I was surprised at the arrival of everything the rest of the season had done, now coming back to help the Disco accomplish its mission. Although I suppose everything did have to be a part of a grand design like Pike and Spock have been saying all along, I was not expecting Siranna and the Kelpiens in particular. A nice touch, certainly, as was the timely arrival of L'Rell and her Klingon armada. Speaking Klingon under heavy makeup does tend to work much better when it's being yelled angrily at one's enemies in the heat of battle than it does when discussing Imperial politics while sitting at home. Plus, Mary Chieffo got to say 'Today is a good day to die' before the show left her behind.

So overall, I think I liked it. It did what it needed to do, and not a whole ton more. What more it did was mixed material, but so is this show in general. I left it feeling satisfied, and even excited for the road ahead. Take her out, folks. Let's see what she can do.

Pensees:

-Holy crap, that's a lot of shuttles. Voyager's jealous.

-I half expected Reno to die, and Po to go to the future. I'm not sad that those things didn't happen, though.

-Keep on being sassy as heck, Dr. Pollard.

-I thought Burnham and Spock's goodbye was just fine the first time, in the shuttlebay. At the end of the episode it was terribly overdone, although Ethan Peck did his darnedest to help it along.

-Is Anthony Rapp's return to the show for Season Three in doubt? They left his life still in danger at the end of the episode. I hope not; I like Stamets. His resolution with Culber felt a little out of place amid the chaos of the episode, though.

-Lots of visual cues to Star Trek: The Motion Picture in this episode, from Burnham's travel through time to the same streaky-light wormhole effect when the ship does the same.

-That really is a dang useful blast door. Voyager's jealous.

-Number One STILL doesn't have a canonical name. Why couldn't she just have given it in the debriefing scene. It's not hard!

-So Tyler has been made the head of Section 31 for now. I guess that means he'll definitely be in Yeoh's series, right?

-Clean-shaven Spock in uniform was great to see, and the shot that panned out from the bridge to the ship in space was a definite nod to 'The Cage.'

-Props to Jeff Russo for his awesome mix of the classic TOS theme and the DIS theme. I really like the music of this show in general.

Quotes:

Po: "First, I invoke diplomatic immunity for stealing this shuttle."

Reno: "I'm going, I'm going! Get off my ass! Sir! Get off my ass, sir!"

Saru: "Promise me you'll be safe." Everything: *continues exploding*

Burnham: "So you're asking me to take a leap of faith." Spock: "One that is only logical."

Controlland: "Where's my data?" Nhan, searching for the most useless response possible: "Hell!"

Controlland: "This doesn't have to be this hard!" Georgiou: "Not hard is boring, and I hate boring."

Number One: "Plans A and B didn't work. This is the Hail Mary part of the operation."

Burnham: "Find that person who seems farthest from you, and reach for them. Reach for them."

4.5 out of 6 really useful blast doors.

CoramDeo is a reviewer, not a bricklayer.

[xx-ingie-xx]

A Summary of All Changes in the Fortitude Revision So Far (Chapters 1-35)

Rather than submit individual posts each time I update the Fortitude revision (aka Epic Edit), I’ve decided to outline all the changes in one continuous summary post, and I will reblog this same post with updates until the revision is complete. 

Every chapter has received a thorough editing to improve style and flow, and many have been almost completely rewritten. This summary outlines changes to the story or characters. Details after the break:

Chapter 1

- Trimmed down and/or improved background info and general descriptions. Some sections have been placed in other chapters for better, more gradual pacing through the background story (I hope – this was very difficult!). - Removed the Council member Lord Pierson, simply because I couldn’t remember his purpose, lol. He seemed redundant to Lord Timothus. - Gave the ministers all last names. - Briefly explained the Alliance and made Impa Hyrule’s representative.

Chapter 2

- Introduced Lady Ariella and made her the Chamberlain, which is basically the castle housekeeper. - Edited more background info - Described the throne room (which is called the Audience Chamber) - Changed the conversation with Zelda’s ladies-in-waiting

Chapter 3

- Edited the conversations between Link and Zelda to sound more natural - Removed scene between Vasilis and the necromancer (too short to be important and no longer fit timeline, removing it also adds to the mystery) - More background info changes

Chapter 4

- Edited the conversation between Link and Zelda - Trimmed down the journey to the rendezvous site - Impa accompanies Zelda at the rendezvous - Improved the conversation between Zelda and Ashton

Chapter 5

- Basically unchanged, just lots of rewording and general polishing

Chapter 6

- Edited the scene between Link and Zelda

Chapter 7

- Placed a section from Ch 8 at the end

Chapter 8

- Added a new section during the journey to the camp - Ian accompanies Zelda (and Adam and two other guards) - I dropped subtle hints regarding Zelda’s pregnancy, so her miscarriage seems less random (and so her loss of magic is consistent throughout the story)

Chapter 9

- Basically unchanged, just lots of rewording and general polishing

Chapter 10

- Gave the Alliance city a name: Antheia - Removed Adam Carlen’s hearing scene – summarized instead (distracts from the main plotline, not important enough for a whole scene) - Impa leaves sooner - goes to Antheia to inform the Alliance of Ashton’s use of dark magic - Ashton does not have his second staff when he storms the castle (this will be important in coming chapters)

Chapter 11

- New scene added with a conversation between Ashton and Vasilis hours after Ashton conquers Hyrule. I felt I needed to set the tone of Ashton settling into Hyrule Castle. I also wanted to explain a few things that were previously left unmentioned. - Zelda’s conversation with Siena has been changed:      - Siena tells her the Hylian soldiers are being kept in a Vandelian prison (I was pretty vague about what happened to them last time, so I changed it to make more sense)      - Zelda does not promise to have Clef released (she doesn’t have that kind of influence this time)      - Siena tells her an awful rumor about Link is spreading, and some people are angry or fearful enough to believe it - middle class and nobles alike.

Chapter 12

- The background story of Link’s narrow escape from death during the Retribution War has been altered to make more sense (realistically Link could not have been delivered to Hyrule Castle on horseback due to his distant location and the seriousness of his injuries). - Zelda does not plead for Clef’s release to Ashton but instead demands to know the awful rumor about Link. Ashton tells her in front of the court, and she pleads with them not to believe his lies. - Ashton also tells her the Alliance came and went while she was ill, they apparently bought his lies and chose to watch him from afar (as Zelda feared they would).

Chapter 13

- Zelda plans to meet with the other tribe leaders of Hyrule and search for the Triforce of Courage. - A section from the old version was removed – when she overheard some grounds people talking about Shade. In reality they would be too afraid to say such things within earshot of the Vandelian guards. This time she hears about him from Siena and at court – which makes more sense anyway. - Zelda does not seek out Shade; he interferes with her attack in the alley by chance.

Chapter 14

- The scene with Ashton and Vasilis has been changed – Vasilis is concerned about the Alliance discovering the second staff and about Link escaping the necromancer’s lair. - Most of the dialog between Link and Zelda has been rewritten and some changes have been made: - Link plans to go rescue the Hylian soldiers. - Link does not tell Zelda to stay at the castle. I realized he absolutely would not send her back to Ashton >.> Face palm moment there. Instead Zelda chooses to stay to keep the Vandelians off his back while he organizes the Resistance. - Zelda convinces Link to take the Ocarina (I realized she would not take no for an answer after everything that’s happened >.>), and he promises to return it.

Chapter 15

- Removed Siena’s third visit - redundant, unnecessary - Removed Great Fairy scene - that was a weak attempt to start the gradual downward spiral Hyrule faces with Ashton on the throne, but in retrospect it felt like random filler - Took one of Zelda’s visions from 16 and placed it at the end

Chapter 16

- Added a little more background info on Link’s and Zelda’s past - Added a small part where Zelda gets the Ocarina back

Chapter 17

- Nabooru talks about the rescue mission Link mentions in 14 - The necromancer’s lair is located in a place called Gerudo Chasm - More Gerudo accompany Zelda and Nabooru to the lair - Zelda finds Link’s wedding ring in the lair

Chapter 18

- Improved the dialogue/interaction between Link and Zelda to feel more natural - Link talks about the first time his scar spread. (There is now a specific trigger/pattern that will become evident in future chapters.) - The book they find in the necromancer’s lair has been changed a bit – it’s now a journal containing an account of the Imprisoning War (the torn page they find still contains the prophesy they can’t read) - Zelda returns Link’s wedding ring - I moved some conversation around to better work with the flow of the chapter

Chapter 19

- Improved the dialogue/interaction between Link and Zelda to feel more natural - Link asks her not to return to the castle, but Zelda is too terrified to do it (for multiple reasons, primarily Link’s safety) - Zelda doesn’t freak out about the necromancer telling Ashton about Link – I figure that would have already occurred to her (it still comes up but differently) - Zelda asks Nabooru to help keep her informed about Link’s scar - Link tells her there may be a second staff

Chapter 20

- Changed some details about the funeral as well as Zelda’s thoughts (some parts felt digressive or repetitive) - Ian is present - Renae and Kinsley speak (though I wrote a bit of dialogue for Kinsley only; the rest is summarized) - This chapter concentrates more on the public and how they react to the funeral. - Zelda’s interaction with Ashton has changed – Alicia is not present (I felt it was too similar to a scene in 12). Her treasonous comments will happen in a later chapter. - Zelda decides to find the staff, not destroy it (since they need it as evidence against Ashton).

Chapters 21 & 22

- Zelda still uses Ashton to get into his bedroom and find the staff. She does find it, but she fails to obtain it. - The necromancer makes another “deal” with Ashton regarding Link. - Link does not reveal himself, and Ashton keeps his survival quiet by locking Zelda in the dungeon. - There is no annulment, since Link is still declared dead. - Heather visits Zelda in the prison (under Ashton’s orders). - Zelda asks Heather to sneak her the Ocarina, which she uses to escape and find Link. - Zelda finds Saria in the Sacred Forest Meadow, and Saria brings her to the Resistance camp for the first time. (Link is not there.)

Chapter 23-25

- Zelda is brought to Goron City after she loses consciousness. There she speaks with Darunia for the first time in the story, so I pulled some text from Ch. 29 and posted it here instead. Darunia tells Zelda where Link is. - Those obnoxious Resistance members that mistreat Zelda in Ch. 23 have been deleted, mainly because I don’t think such amateurs would have direct access to Link. He’s too important. Only people he really trusts would work with him directly (outside the camp), and he would be better protected for the sake of secrecy. - The Resistance hideout in Kakariko Village is in Cleia’s cellar, not Impa’s house. Vandelians have claimed Impa’s house for their own amusements. - Since the annulment hasn’t happened, Link and Zelda’s conversation has been altered (Link is not so cold this time around). Their conversations in Ch. 24 and 25 have also been edited accordingly. - Zelda (willingly) tells Link she’ll stay with him in Ch. 23 but she still ends up surrendering to the Vandelians to create a diversion, so she’s unable to keep her word (for now).

Chapter 26

– Zelda’s visions in the very beginning are new. – Zelda fights back and tries to flee the castle before she passes out – The scene where Maddox treats Heather has been altered to flow better. – One of the biggest changes to the story overall: Zelda does NOT agree to sign the annulment. I was never happy with that part of the story, but at the time I thought Zelda didn’t really have a choice. After all the changes I’ve made, I felt it no longer made sense for Zelda to bend to Ashton’s wishes. To start, she has every intention of leaving the castle as soon as possible, so why break her vows to Link when Kaepora might turn up with the Ocarina at any moment? Second, Ashton has publicly declared Link dead, so he risks Zelda publicizing the annulment if he forces it on her – which would reflect pretty badly on him, since he lied about Link’s death. The last thing he needs is people doubting his word. Zelda knows this, so she uses it to her advantage. Also, Ashton doesn’t want to keep Zelda in a cell. He wants to parade her about and marry her before the entire kingdom – putting her in prison isn’t nearly as fun for him. Zelda knows this as well, so she calls his bluff. This scene is meant to show how Zelda and Ashton are playing a twisted game of sorts, each seeing how far they can push each other. Ashton may have sole rule over Hyrule, but Zelda knows too many of his secrets.

Chapter 27

– No one, not even Heather, knows about Zelda’s pregnancy. Zelda fears that telling anyone would endanger not only the baby, but the person sharing her secret. – Only those two women suspect Zelda’s pregnancy, and Zelda quickly fabricates another explanation. These women represent the fact that not everyone supports Ashton and that some do fear for Zelda. It also shows how increasingly difficult it will be for Zelda to keep her secret, which emphasizes her desperate need for the Ocarina. – The scene where Zelda treats Heather’s wounds has been significantly expanded to build Heather’s character and develop her bond with Zelda. Heather’s and Adam’s background has also been edited slightly – Adam now excels at carpentry instead of cooking (so that will be changed in 29 as well). I felt this change better suited Adam’s character as well as the OoT universe, since there are actually carpenters in Kakariko in OoT. Another bigger change is that Zelda does not tell Heather that Link is alive. – The scene where Ashton presents Zelda’s gown for the engagement gala has been altered. Zelda is still troubled by the gown, but I chose to dwell on it only briefly. Zelda acknowledges her humiliation, but she has much bigger concerns on her mind. Zelda also reacts to Ashton’s advance and instinctively twists his wrist. This demonstrates the growing tension between them – Ashton knows she’s not helpless, and Zelda knows she can’t lash out like that. All she can do is cause as little damage as possible until the Ocarina arrives. – I also moved the engagement gala to the beginning of Ch. 28.

Chapter 28

– The scene where Zelda is dressed for the gala has been removed – it felt utterly pointless in retrospect and didn’t demonstrate any tension that hasn’t already been established. – The gala is significantly altered. Zelda’s brief flashback to her engagement party with Link is has been removed because I didn’t think she would daydream about something like that, given her current circumstances. All she can think about is the present and her immediate concerns. As the night progresses, however, she does start to feel as though she’s been thrust into the past, and it haunts her. During her walk she sees one of Ashton’s lovers (something she dealt with back during their first engagement) and remembers how Link convinced her to defend her own happiness. Ashton then appears to reestablish his control over her. The private “exchange” between Zelda and Ashton shows how unpredictable and possessive Ashton has become, but it also shows that beneath his horrid exterior he is a damaged, misguided person, desperately trying to reclaim the past. – Zelda’s conversation with Alicia is new, but it did replace a similar conversation I removed from an earlier chapter (and gives Zelda reason to later ban Alicia from the court for treasonous behavior). Zelda is also dancing with Ashton when she faints instead of some random lord. – Maddox doesn’t have the chance to figure out that Zelda is pregnant, since her escape is completely changed. I wanted to create a stronger sense of urgency compared to her previous escape. That she left Ashton in the middle of his gala made it all the more satisfying, I think. :D – The scene where Zelda and Heather take refuge in the Temple has been removed because Zelda loses consciousness. I had to cut it for the sake of pacing, but I might reinsert it somewhere else in the story if I see an opportunity. – Zelda’s reunion with Link has been completely rewritten. I felt the chapter flowed better without the scene where Link finds her and Heather in the Sacred Forest Meadow. I wanted to focus on the strong sense of relief shared by Link and Zelda, but I also emphasized the difference between Link and Ashton. This is symbolized in the way Link removes the uncomfortable gown and accessories that Ashton forced Zelda to wear.

Chapter 29

– The first scene with Ashton has been altered to make sense with the changes to Zelda’s escape. He also questions Kinsley instead of Maddox. I wanted to emphasize Ashton’s growing paranoia/irrationality in this scene. I also hinted at his plan to hire Jedrek Khar, so it doesn’t feel so random later on. – Originally there were two scenes between Link and Zelda–one where she wakes in the middle of the night and one where she has breakfast with Link. Those two have been replaced by one new scene taking place in the morning. I don’t remember why I did two in the first place, but it was unnecessary, and I really wanted to improve the conversation/banter between Link and Zelda. – Link is more aware of Zelda’s nervousness about the people of the camp distrusting or even resenting her (as well as her fears about the baby). – When Link and Zelda meet with the other Resistance leaders, Zelda addresses them herself. Having Link speak for her in the original was just dumb. *facepalm* – Link still asks Cleia to come and care for Zelda, but it is (and will be) much more fleshed out. It was so “oh by the way” in the original, which was dumb. – Zelda still promises to stay in the camp, but that scene is completely rewritten, and this time Link takes the Ocarina with him.

Chapters 30 & 31

- Zelda frets more about her reputation - A Resistance fighter from Aboda defies orders and rides to the Resistance camp to tell Zelda about the situation in Aboda, he also begs Zelda to come and help the victims of the Black Sleep, despite the obvious danger - Link and Zelda’s argument is not resolved as it was in the original and they don’t discuss Zelda’s insecurities regarding the baby. That comes in a later chapter. - Link and Zelda do not have active roles in the funeral; that is reserved for the people of Aboda. They are attending simply to pay their respects. - I created more tension when Link urges the people of Aboda to evacuate. They are proud and more reluctant to flee their beloved village.

Chapter 32

- Zelda goes to the Chamber of Sages to summon Ruto, Nabooru, Rauru, and Impa so she can alert them that a cleansing might be Link’s only hope of survival.

Chapter 33

- Zelda takes a much more dominant role in trying to wake Link or treat his wound. This includes climbing Death Mountain (through the crater) to speak with with the Great Fairy.  - The scene where Cleia assures Zelda her chances of a miscarriage have lessened has been removed. In a situation like this I see Zelda being very single minded and focused solely on saving Link. I removed her conversation with Heather for the same reason. Both scenes felt like digressive fluff that disrupted the flow of the chapter.  - Another major change to improve the poor pacing in this section of the story: Impa does not return at this point. She is still in Tar Alem and possibly in trouble. Because of this, the Black Echo curse is not yet revealed.  - Zelda visits the Great Fairy in the desert like she did in the original, but Nabooru escorts her there. Zelda does not collect a fairy as she did in the original, but the Great Fairy arranges for one to guide her in the Lost Woods. This is an example of taking some artistic license when minor and somewhat cumbersome gameplay details don’t translate well into storytelling. - Darunia, Saria, and Zelda take Link to the fountain (without Impa). - "Cutting the fat” allowed me to move some content from Ch. 34 into this chapter, ending it where Link finally wakes. This improves the pacing and gives me more freedom to focus on Link’s and Zelda’s confrontation/discussion in the next chapter.

Chapter 34

- Link still wakes in the fountain, basically the same scene but without Impa

- Their conversation in the Lost Woods has been altered, but it’s more or less the same concern as before = Link’s safety and well being

- In revising this story I’ve noticed I had a tendency to address too many personal conflicts at once or resolve them too quickly. In the old version of Ch. 34, Link and Zelda talked about a number of things when they were alone in the forest, but this time I wanted a straightforward conversation about one immediate issue = Link taking a less active role in the Resistance until they better understand what the curse is doing to him. The conversation ends before any agreement is made. 

- Clef isn’t the only one to be hanged this time -- Kinsley has also been declared a traitor. Zelda finds out telepathically from Darunia. I felt a need to streamline that last transition in 34, and I figured Darunia would try to inform Link and Zelda asap, since the hanging is at dawn.

Chapter 35

- I really cut back on the scenes leading up to the  execution. The first time I wrote this chapter I felt pressured to explain a believable rescue plan and then have it play out from Ashton’s perspective. In other words I made it more difficult than it had to be. This time I gave just enough information for the reader to trust that there’s a solid plan, but I keep the details a mystery. Ashton’s scene--when the rescue actually happens--is more effective that way. In this case there was too much redundancy in explaining the rescue and then showing it. The reader doesn’t know exactly what happened, but they know enough to trust the Resistance succeeded without being overloaded with details. That was my goal, at least. In short, I think this approach improved the delivery and the pacing of this chapter.

- I added a scene with Vasilis and Ashton. It introduces Jedrek Khar (though he’s not actually in the scene) and highlights the growing tension between Vasilis and Ashton. Vasilis dislikes Ashton, and he fears what Ashton might do next, but he tells himself that everything would work itself out if Zelda returned to the castle. He’s in denial at this point; he can’t face the gravity of his error just yet. 

- One big change is that Link participates in the rescue mission, when in the previous version he stayed behind. He frees Clef and Kinsley from the gallows and in that act he reveals to the public that he is still alive. It’s a brief moment with a big impact.

- Link and Zelda argue about Link doing stupid dangerous things (again). As much as Link regrets what Zelda has endured since Ashton brought him to the necromancer, and as much as he wants to live, he still can’t bring himself to play it safe. 

- Zelda suspects that Link is struggling with some underlying issue -- that the lack of concern for his own safety stems not only from being Hyrule’s Champion but from a subconscious, incessant need to prove his worth.

[imaginekpoplikethis]

7 years - BadBoy! Jeon Jungkook X Reader - Part 9

Early (but not early since it's 11pm here) updateeee. I honestly feel like I can't go two parts without making something bad happen.

Shall I stop the drama or shall I continue with it??? I don't really know, so I need you guys to let me know your thoughts on it.

Thanks for reading. Love you guys!

Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4  Part 5  Part 6  Part 7  Part 8  Part 9 - Here  Part 10.1  Part 10.2  Part 10.3  Part 11  Part 12  Part 13  Part 14  Part 15  Part 16 Part 17  Part 18  Part 19  Part 20 - Final

You would like to say you survived through all the screaming from your family and best friend but to be totally honest it felt like you had been dragged through hell and back. You were sure that one of your ears had been damaged in the process.

Your mother seemed to be ecstatic with the news that you were dating Jungkook. Her 18 year-old daughter had finally managed to get her first boyfriend and it just so happened to be the one boy she adored as if he were her own son.

She made it sound like you were completely hopeless when it came to relationships.

When you had video called Areum and filled her in on what had happened, she smirked, which was something that shocked you to great lengths. Then she demanded you give her Shinee's new album and that was when it clicked in your head. You had made a bet, hadn't you? Who would have thought you would actually lose? Apparently Areum had.

You had to reassure her that you would definitely hold up your side of the deal and she begun cheering, jumping up and down. When she had finished celebrating, she begun to congratulate you which, in all honesty, kind of embarrassed you. She was making it out like it was some kind of life changing event. When you voiced your thoughts, she claimed it was and gushed over the next step of your relationship.

"It's been less than two hours, Areum."

Blinking, she closed in on the camera, staring straight at you. It made you mildly uncomfortable.

"Two hours is a long time! Soon it will be four and then eight and before you know it, you'll be married and have kids."

How she got from eight hours to marriage is beyond you.

"Are you psychic or something? What do you mean marriage? You actually think we'll last that long?"

Energetically nodding her head, she swung around on her seat before laying her eyes on you again.

"If I'm being honest, I don't think you guys will ever have a major fight now that your together. You've just known each other too long so you understand the intentions behind each others actions. Even if you hurt each other, which is highly unlikely, there will always be a valid reason behind it."

"Do you analyse your schoolwork like you do with my relationship? That could pass as an essay."

Areum chuckled and you thought over what she had said. You understood what she was getting at. You would never intentionally hurt Jungkook, not because he was now your boyfriend but because you didn't want to lose his trust and friendship. If you ever came to a point where you broke up, you would want to be able to continue being close friends.

Why were you already thinking about breakups?

"Anyway, Y/N. I need to finish the maths homework. I'll see you in school tomorrow. Bye!"

She waved at the camera before ending the call, leaving you staring at the screen in thought.

Despite what Areum had said, you still felt that it was possible you would end up hitting a bump in your relationship. The thought made your stomach turn.

It would probably be better to avoid thinking about topics like that.

-

Heading to school the next day, you weren't as excited as you thought you would be. Possibly because you had spent so long freaking out last night. You were drained, having got no sleep. Not even ten minutes.

Upon arriving at the schools entrance, you felt a couple of eyes on you. People were still feeding off of your fight with Hye Mi apparently. Trudging to your classroom, you slid the door open to find Jungkook asleep on his desk and three girls from your class sitting around him. Upon closer inspection, you realised they were admiring your boyfriend.

Too tired to actually care, you slumped into your seat. It wasn't causing you any harm due to the fact that nothing was even happening. You didn't want to have relationship problems on your official first day of dating. Instead you focused your attention on your unopened messages. You hadn't gotten a chance to check them as you were dedicating your morning to trying to keep awake long enough to leave the house.

Areum had messaged you asking if you had remembered to bring your homework, to which you replied a quick 'yep, thanks Areum.' Your next message happened to be from none other than the idiot currently sleeping on the other side of the class.

'Hey, Princess. Make sure to come to school early.'

So much for that. Glancing in his direction, you took in his dozing, slumped figure. You should probably wake him up.

Dialling his number, you watched as he shot up in his seat and whipped his head from side to side in confusion. When he realised his phone was ringing, he all but wrenched it out of his pocket, answering the call without checking the caller ID.

"Hello?" He croaked his greeting through the phone, taking notice of the dumbfounded girls seated around him. Sending them a slightly dirty look, they hopped up and shuffled away, embarrassed to be caught staring.

"Rise and shine, Jeon." Hearing your voice coming from within his phone and the other side of the classroom, you were pleasantly surprised to witness a grin spread on his face at the realisation.

Hanging up on you, he scraped his chair back and stuffed his hands in his pockets, strolling to your desk whilst emitting a cool aura. Taking his usual seat in front of you, Jungkook draped his arms on the backrest of his chair and then laid his head upon them. Gazing up at you from between his eyelashes, he presents you with a faint but handsome smile.

"I can't believe you fell asleep after ordering me to come to school early. That's impolite."

A boyish laugh escaped him and the corners of his eyes crinkled the tiniest bit, taking on a more crescent shape. He reached his hand out towards your hair, grabbing a lock of hair and twisting it between his fingers.

"You're pretty when you're annoyed..."

Huffing, you let your eyes fall to the side, avoiding making eye contact with him.

"Are you implying that I'm not usually pretty? Wow, I am so lucky to date you." You tried to suppress the grin that was threatening to make itself present but Jungkook still noticed.

"My princess is always pretty." You pushed his face to the side and stuck your tongue out, scrunching your face up in mild disgust. Jungkook merely chuckled at your reaction, his plan to make you flustered succeeding.

"Major cringe alert. Please refrain from saying things like that. At least in public." A sly smirk replaced his grin and he wiggled his eyebrows.

"So you wouldn't mind if we were alone? Noted. I'll save it all for when we're alone." What kind of nonsense is he spouting now? Grabbing his ear, you gave it a quick tug which caused him to release your hair and place his hands on yours. He winced in slight pain but his smirk never left his face.

"Pervert. It hasn't even been twenty-four hours." Releasing his ear from your grip, you rested your head on the palm of your hand and stared right back at him. His bunny-like grin grew and a delicate smile spread on your lips. You hadn't taken notice of the students who filed into class until your teacher had arrived, calling everyone to their seats.

Jungkook reluctantly stood from the seat in front you and returned it to the slightly annoyed and intimidated student who lingered beside the desk. Ignoring said student, he placed his hand on your head affectionately and bent down, pecking your lips. A wave of loud whispers emerged from the rest of the class and you hung your head, letting your hair partially cover your now reddening face.

Jungkook seemed to be having a hard time fighting the blush that was slowly spreading over his cheeks.

-

By the time lunch had come around, you were sure everyone had heard the news of your relationship. Obviously, this irked you as it was your private buisness. You supposed it was unavoidable. Jungkook was the schools most difficult and intimidating student whilst you were one of the best students. Of course news like this would spread like a forest fire amongst teenagers. This information didn't stop you from feeling self-conscious. You had almost adjusted to the few stares you used to receive but having everyone's eyes on you whilst you were trying to eat your lunch was another story.

Areum seemed to notice that you were on edge as she tapped you on the arm. Looking up at you with concern filled eyes, she offered you a worried smile.

"Y/N? Are you uncomfortable?" That seemed to gain Jungkook's attention as he immediately stopped his conversation with Seokjin and studied you. His face remained blank but the worry he held in his eyes was evident.

"I'm fine. I just... don't really like all the unnecessary staring." You stabbed your fork into a piece of meat, a light sigh leaving your lips. Jungkook's eyebrows creased and his head shot up to the many students staring with no shame. Sending death stares in every direction, he clenched his jaw and balled his fists. This didn't go unnoticed by the nosy students and they each turned back to their food, terrified at the holes Jungkook was burning into the back of their heads.

When he was satisfied with the outcome of his actions, he switched his focus back onto you and flicked your forehead. You flinched and placed a hand on your head, peering up at him.

"Don't let these pieces of shit get to you."

Taehyung's face moved into your line of sight and he grinned at you. "Yeah! We'll deal with them later!" Giggling, you felt yourself relax at their somewhat reassuring words.

"Deal with them later? Please don't."

Areum nudged you and you turned to face her, a determined look set on her face.

"Don't worry, from now on I'll protect you too."

Areum was just too cute for words. Your smile broadened into a warm grin and you wrapped your arms around her, pulling her in for a quick hug.

"Gosh you're adorable."

Jungkook let out a small whine, grabbing your attention.

"What about me?"

You pinched his cheek and he frowned at the childish way you were treating him in.

"I guess you are too."

-

You decided to enjoy the good weather as much as you could and convinced Areum to come with you to the nearby bubble tea café after school. She was currently gushing over your interaction with Jungkook this morning, having caught word of it in the school hallway.

"You guys are so cute! You're not too clingy but you don't awkwardly avoid each other either. You're right in the middle." Rolling your eyes, you felt your cheeks heat up for the second time that day. Areum rambled on and you opted to listen to her in silence.

When you arrived at your destination, you told her to find a table whilst you ordered your drinks. The line was longer than you had expected it to be so you ended up waiting for ten minutes. As soon as you were presented with your order, you grabbed both cups and searched for Areum. It took you awhile to spot her and when you did you had to refrain from gaping in shock. A boy you didn't recognise had wrapped an arm around her shoulders and seemed to be chatting away, not taking notice of her extremely uncomfortable figure. Speed walking to the table they were situated at, you caught the last part of the conversation.

"Come on, you don't have to lie to me. You're obviously here alone. I think you're pretty cute so let's go chill out somewhere else. Get to know each other." He wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive way and you had to stop yourself from giving him a good punch to the head.

"Actually, she's not here alone. She's got company so do you mind leaving? Thanks." You tried to remain as polite as possible but this boy just screamed 'douche'.

"What's wrong baby, you can join us too. Don't be a cock-blocking bitch."

Yeah, he's definitely a douche.

Placing your drinks on the table, you wrapped your hand around his arm and slowly lifted it from Areum's shoulder.

"Well, I'm going to be a cock-blocking bitch and maybe even a batshit crazy bitch if you don't leave my friend alone." He seemed to be taken aback by your reply but soon recovered and stood up, looming over you in what you assumed was meant to be intimidating. It didn't work since he was quite literally a centimetre taller than you.

"Y/N, stop! Please don't get into trouble for me again." You took notice of Areum's extremely worried tone and your determination wavered. You returned your attention back to the problem at hand when you heard him scoff at Areum's innocent plead. This only angered you further.

"Just leave before I lose my shit."

"Woah, what's with the hostility? Maybe I should to teach you some manners..." Proceeding to grab your wrist, he narrowed his eyes at you, daring you to fight back. You felt the grip on your wrist tighten and you were jerked forward, making contact with the boys chest. Right when you were going to show him what hostility looked like, another hand grabbed his wrist in a vice like grip and you looked up to find Jungkook's seething face.

"That's my job. Who the fuck are you and why are your hands on my girl? Can't she have a fucking drink with her friend without lowlife shits like you bothering them?"

The boy stiffened and released your wrist, your hand unconsciously rubbing the partially sore mark that was left.

"J-jeon?"

Jungkook raised an eyebrow and you noticed the knuckles on the hand that was around the boys wrist were turning white.

"Yeah, what? Have you got something to say?"

The boy threw his arm out of Jungkook's grasp and took a couple of steps back.

"Not really, I was just leaving..." Navigating his way around Jungkook, he avoided all eye contact with you and shuffled out of the café. It was then that you noticed everyone's eyes were on you for the umpteenth time that day. Quickly glancing in Areum's direction, you saw Jimin calming her down. Sitting down opposite them, you placed your hands on your head and let out a heavy sigh. Movement from your right side let you know that Jungkook was now sitting beside you. He enveloped you in a hug and buried his face into your hair, mumbling to you.

"Forget about everyone. They don't matter..."  Nodding your head, you wound your arms around his waist and embraced him back. After half a minute, you released each other and he grinned at you, grabbing your drink and sipping some. Hitting his arm, you snatched your drink out of his hand.

"Hey! Don't I get a thank you drink?"

You stuck your tongue out at his pouting face and you heard Jimin and Areum chuckle at your childish antics.

"Not mine."

[readingraebow]

The Prestige Section Two

Part 3 - Part 4: July 12, 1900

1. Who visits the Angier family and why do they come? When Kate was two, Clive Borden visits her parents and brings Nicky, who was then two, along. The kids are shuffled off upstairs to play together for most of the afternoon while the adults talked downstairs. Because Kate was small, she doesn't know exactly what went on but she tries to piece things together. She thinks this was yet another attempt to patch things up between the two families. Clive is the great-grandson of Alfred Borden and Kate's father is the great grandson of Rupert Angier. And, later, when Kate realizes this, she realizes that makes Nick her rival. And the meeting honestly doesn't go well? By the time they all sit down to dinner, the kids aren't exactly behaving and that annoys the adults and makes them turn on each other. The kids are then shuffled out of the room again as the adults are left to fight.

2. What happens to Nicky in the cellar? So Kate's parents take Clive down to the cellar to show him Angier's machine. This was, apparently, what they'd been arguing about. So Kate's father turned it on and got in it and the lightning swirled around him and such. Well he started yelling at Clive to get in it because that's what he wanted. So Clive was holding Nicky and handed him to Kate's father. Well Kate's father ended up throwing Nicky into the machine and it killed him. Kate and her sister had snuck down after the adults and watched the whole thing. And at this point, their mother ushered them back upstairs. But they watched Clive clutching Nicky's lifeless body. So after that, the police were never called and Kate's parents told them that the police wouldn't be involved. And they never knew what happened to Nicky's body but they assumed Clive took it with them. It was only after she grew that Kate realized all of this was weird.

3. What is Nicky's relationship to Andrew? They think that's Andrew's twin. Or, rather, Andrew thinks Nicky is his twin. Kate thinks that they're somehow the same person. She thinks that Andrew is Nicky and that he somehow survived that night. But Andrew said that since he stepped foot in that house, he has felt a stronger connection to his twin. It's like his twin is somehow still there and still connected to the house. And since there's no record that Andrew ever had a twin, there might be a chance that because of the accident that night, the records were altered to erase Nicky's existence.

4. What event in Angier's life changes his circumstances? How does he retaliate? His father dies and his brother inherits the estate. Well, his brother decides to completely uproot their lives and basically kicks their mother out of the house (giving her a small cottage on the estate). He allows Rupert to stay in the rooms he presently occupies until he finishes school. Then he decides that Rupert may remain until he's twenty-one since he's technically his guardian until then. However, Rupert moves to his own lodgings but will still receive an allowance from his brother until he's twenty-one. His brother decided to keep the entire fortune for himself and basically not share it with either his mother or brother so Rupert will have to support himself after he's twenty-one. So he starts his career as an illusionist. However, it doesn't really go well until he meets a woman named Julia and she helps him with his performance. They also begin to perform a mentalist act which does help them make some money while Rupert practices and perfects his illusionist act.

5. What caused Angier's vendetta against Borden? So the Angiers discovered Julia was pregnant and by that time, they'd started conducting séances for a small fee this is where Angier's story begins to align with Bordens. So they'd started interviewing assistants to replace Julia during her pregnancy but hadn't found one suitable. So Julia was still assisting on the day when Borden appeared for the second time. During his struggle to expose Angier, Borden shoved Julia and she fell. Well she insisted she was alright and went to bed that night. But she ended up waking up bleeding and they had to rush her to the hospital where she had emergency surgery. She lost the baby and almost died herself. And, thus, Angier's vendetta against Borden began: because he caused the loss of their child. Which Borden, apparently, never even knew.

6. What makes Angier return to his diary after a ten year absence? So after Borden caused Julia's miscarriage, their feud went strong for a while but when Angier's anger eventually calmed down, he stopped fighting. But then Borden shows up at one of Angier's shows and ends up being one of the volunteers during part of the performance. It was during an illusion involving Angier being tied to a chair and six volunteers from the audience tying the knots. Angier and the chair are then lowered into a water tank where Angier is to escape. But Borden both distracted Angier and tied his knot way too tight. So Angier couldn't get out and almost drowned. Thankfully, it was realized in time and he was pulled to safety but it did ruin the show. And Angier felt that Borden tried to kill him and it renewed his anger once more and restarted the fire in the feud all over again.

7. Who is Root and what is the problem with him? When Angier replaced Borden for a booking, he read the contract and saw that a replacement act should be as similar to the act it was replacing as can be. So Angier decided he would try to incorporate Borden's Transported Man illusion. So he found a double: Root. Well, the illusion went well and for a while, it was a sensation. It was requested at all of Angier's bookings and could even double his earnings when performed. However, Root was a heavy drinker and would often show up to shows drunk. Angier tried to talk to him but it literally didn't work. Because assistants know a lot of secrets so they have a lot of power. And when Angier tried to talk to him, he ended up giving Root a raise. But then Borden went on a tour of Europe and without Borden to compete with, Angier no longer needed to include the illusion in his act so he discontinued it and fired Root.

8. How does Borden update his Transported Man illusion? So Angier started performing the illusion again but with a different double. But the audience wasn't impressed? That's when he heard that Borden had changed his act and his illusion was now much better. So Angier visited one of Borden's performances to see how the illusion had changed. Borden incorporated electricity into his act and he would grab two heavy wires and bring them together to make an electrical connection. Then he would vanish from where he was standing (the two wires falling to the floor) and instantly reappear on the other side of the stage. And then, once moved, he produces a flower chosen by an audience member earlier in the show. And Angier doesn't know how it's done but, at this point, thinks that Borden doesn't use a double.

9. What plan does Olivia propose? What is in the envelope she eventually gives Angier? Borden has been advertising for an assistant so Olivia plans to apply for the position. She means to go work for Borden, learn the secret behind his Transported Man illusion and come back and tell Angier. Because she realizes that all Angier really wants. But Olivia leaves and doesn't come back. She sends for all her things without a word to Angier. And, eventually, when she does come to visit him to explain, she tells him he must end his feud with Borden and, if he agrees, she will give him the envelope containing Borden's secret. Angier agrees and when he opens the envelope, printed inside is one word: Tesla.

10. After receiving the envelope, where does Angier go and why do you think he does this? Angier goes to Colorado Springs to meet Nikola Tesla. He goes, presumably, to discover Borden's secret for himself. But he ends up learning a lot about electricity and Tesla's contribution to it. He ends his first visit by Tesla inviting him back and Angier saying he has a proposition. So I think Angier wants Tesla to build him a machine like Borden's.

  Section Two Reading Journal

Okay so. I’m still not really ~loving this book. But I’m also not hating it either. Some parts of it I think are really good but some parts just feel really unnecessary. I still really don’t like the grandkids bit. I think that feels really unnecessary. You can very easily create the same twist with the magicians, as seen in the movie.

Angier’s journals, however, are fascinating and I’ve really been loving reading them. I do like that, with the book, we get more of each magician’s side of the feud rather than just seeing the whole thing more straightforward, as in the movie. Seeing it from two different perspectives is fascinating. It feels like you get to know each of the magicians a little better.

However, there are a few very bit changes in Angier’s story. In the movie, the feud started because of Julia’s death. But in the book, Borden causes Julia to miscarry. I honestly think Julia’s death is a little more powerful?? Especially since she’s essentially what started Angier’s career since she critiqued him a lot and worked with him in the earlier stages. That’s just a personal preference but when I read that I was like ????? That doesn’t seem as powerful to me???

Also. Let’s talk about Tesla. Because now I’m super curious. I know we won’t have an answer to this until the next section but Borden also worked with Tesla??? Is he cloning too?? Because I don’t like that as much....? And honestly if that’s what’s happening here... if Angier gets a machine built that’s just like Borden’s and literally just exactly copies him and they’re both cloning, I’m honestly going to be upset. Because I don’t like that at all....? But I’ll have more on that if that’s what’s really happening here. So I guess to be continued after I read the next section.

Honestly, I think I would’ve liked this more if I hadn’t seen the movie first. But since I have, I definitely see a lot of flaws with this book and a lot of things I think the movie did better. So it’s making it really difficult for me to enjoy this book. But, as I said, I’m not hating it. I’m just not really loving it either. But I can’t wait to finish and see what happens!

[placetobenation]

Steve’s Box Office Report: April 2010

Top 10 Films for the Month of April:

1. Clash of the Titans – $163,214,888

2. Date Night – $98,669,097

3. A Nightmare on Elm Street – $63,075,011

4. Why Did I Get Married Too? – $60,095,852

5. Kick-Ass – $48,071,303

6. Death at a Funeral – $42,739,347

7. The Back-Up Plan – $37,490,007

8. The Losers – $23,591,432

9. Oceans – $18,735,398

10. Furry Vengeance – $17,630,465

Honorable Mentions:

None

April Winners: Clash of the Titans, Date Night, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Why Did I Get Married Too?, and Death at a Funeral

We continue on through the year of 2010 and after what ended up being a pretty successful March, we now enter April where we have a very unique slate of films to fill the month before we get to the kickoff of the summer. Usually, April can either be a dumping ground for films to bridge the gap between March and May, but sometimes it can feature a surprise breakout hit and we did have a few films that maybe didn’t completely break out, but still did fairly well. The first film that makes it into this category is the action fantasy film Clash of the Titans, a remake of the 1981 film of the same name about the mythical stories of Perseus and the war of the gods. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it was a major downgrade from the original, but partially due to Sam Worthington’s stock being on the rise from Avatar it would be a shocking surprise as it made over $160 million and became one of more stunning successes of the year. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the romantic comedy Date Night, a film about a couple who try to rekindle the spark of their marriage only to be caught up in a case of mistaken identity. The film would receive mixed to positive reviews from critics and wound up being the most popular romantic comedy of the month, and it would just miss hitting $100 million by a few million and it was still a very successful film. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street, a remake of the classic horror film where Freddy Kruger terrorizes a group of teenagers in their dreams. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it was an unnecessary remake though they did praise some aspects of the film, and it would make just over $63 million which would make it the highest grossing film in the franchise amazingly enough. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the comedy drama Why Did I Get Married Too?, a sequel to the 2007 film where four couples undergo a week-long retreat to improve their relationships. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it was a step down from the previous film, but it still did fairly well by making over $60 million which was a fine amount of money. The final film from this month that makes it into this category is the black comedy Death at a Funeral, a remake of the 2007 British film of the same name where a family come together for a funeral and did with their own internal issues. Much like the other films in this category, this film would receive mixed to negative reviews from critics who felt it was inferior to the original, and the film would end up making over $42 million which was again a nice little success for this film. While these films were not liked by critics, they still struck enough of a cord with the mainstream audience and they made plenty of money that lands them right into this category.

April Losers: Oceans

On the surface, it looked like a couple of these films would end up in this category just due to the money they made and they seemed to have high production budgets, but amazingly enough all of them expect one managed to finish with an amount that landed around the budget that they didn’t completely bomb. Unfortunately, there was one film that did end up making his category and that is the documentary film Oceans, released by Disney Nature that showed a detailed look at the world’s oceans and humanity’s affects on them. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was a fine entry after the previous year’s film Earth, but after its Earth Day release it would quickly fall off a cliff as it finished with just under $19 million. Now one could argue that these type of films aren’t worried about making money and are just used to spark interest in nature and to promote a charity based on the film, but you can’t ignore that this did end up being a bit of a flop and wound up being one of the bigger bombs of the year.

The Surprise/Story of April 2010: No “Clash” for first place as Titans take top spot of April 2010

Going into the month of April, there didn’t seem to be a clear cut choice of what film would end up doing the best of all the films as most of the films were not being well-received by critics, and even though they were a variety of genres they were all seemingly aimed at the same audience. In the end, we did get a definite winner as Clash of the Titans not only took the top spot of the year, but completely overperformed even the most modest of expectations as it made over $160 million which I’m sure nobody expected it to make. Coupled with a solid performance from Date Night and some average takings from the rest of the films, and in the end of the month of April ended up being a fairly average month though it was a step down from March and it only wet the appetite for the slate of films that were coming in May.

Overachiever of April 2010: Clash of the Titans

As I had mentioned a few times in this recap, going into the month of April I don’t think anyone expected much out of Clash of the Titans even though it was being released over Easter weekend which was also at the beginning of the month. The original of 1981 was moderately received and many felt that this newer version was far inferior to the original, and I wouldn’t be surprised if many believed that it would end up being a bomb especially with the other films that were coming out that month. In addition, the film had originally been set for a March release but was pushed back a few weeks so it can be converted to 3D which some felt was completely unnecessary. However, as I mentioned earlier it was not to be underestimated the value of star Sam Worthington as he was coming off the massive juggernaut that was Avatar and the film also had plenty of star power in it as well. Ultimately when it was released, it would be a surprise success as it made close to $68 million in its opening weekend and it would continue to play well over the month, and by the end it would finish with over $163 million which was way more than anyone expected and made you wonder if a sequel was now in the works. We will get to that down the line when we get there, but for now Clash of the Titans is more than deserving of its title of the overachiever of the month and could potentially have a shot at overachiever of the year though it may be a long shot.

Underachiever of April 2010: Kick-Ass

On the flip side of Clash of the Titans, another film was generating plenty of buzz going into its release and that was the superhero film Kick-Ass, based on the comics of the same name of an ordinary teenage who trains to become a superhero and partners with a cop and his daughter as they battle a ruthless mob boss and his son. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt the film was a breath of fresh air in the superhero genre, and the film would open at number one in its opening weekend before finishing with over $48 million. Now while that is a good number for the film and it would gain a cult following which would lead to a potential sequel, it does feel like a bit of a disappointment given the hype that was going into this film. One could blame the “R” rating though that is a bit of a cop out since as we will see, future superhero films that are rated “R” can do very well and as a result of this, Kick-Ass does end up being named the underachiever of the month.

April 2010 Awards Watch: Clash of the Titans

One things I have noticed is that the month of April usually does not have a lot of films released that are considered for one of the big 3 awards, and typically we have had either one film or two films be included in this category. For this year, we only have one film make it into this category again as Clash of the Titans would be nominated for 2 Golden Raspberry Awards (Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off, or Sequel and Worst Eye-Gouging Misuse of 3D) though it wouldn’t end up winning either one. I hate having to cut this category so short, but there’s really nothing I can do about when the slate of films is so average that hardly any of them can get a nod for any of the big 3 awards.

Overall Thoughts of April 2010:

Overall, the month of April 2010 ended up being a fairly average month and while it was far superior to January, it was a major step down from March and was about on par from what February was. It’s interesting because you did have a film from this month that made over $100 million and was one of the bigger success stories of the year, but the rest of the films from this month were either on par with what was expected or underperformed though nothing outright bombed aside from one film that wasn’t designed to make a lot of money. 2010 has been a very interesting year of film thus far as it started badly, picked up a bit and shot up the previous month though we seemed to have plateaued here and we will see how things end up doing as May looks to shoot the year back up. As for the month of April 2010, it is a fairly average month with one major success and a lot of pretty tepid performances though nothing outright bad and it was really just as average as you could get.

Final Grade: C-

[wildlyfamousmusic]

To WebweildingAvenger: 

“Hey, so, for a while now you seem to have some disdain over some writers for some reason. Like Zdarsky. And for a while it’s shown. So, for a while you seem to be more critical on Zdarsky even for the most smallest reasons despite him: ”

I have disdain for Zdarsky because he did bad work and more than this is acclaimed and praised in spite of that.

My reasons are large AND small!

But shit like the Jameson issue or Theresa aren’t small issues by a long shot. 

Not Really. Sure, Jameson wouldn’t be the one on your list of reveals before anyone likle Flash. But, it’s a start. As for Teresa, people liked her character since Family Business and thought she’d be interesting enough for the Lore. amd so far, people other than Zdarsky agreed. 

“Giving Spidey his strength again ”

How the hell did he do that????????????? 

For a while now, Spidey had shown to be incvompetent and a joke especially towards his peers when under the likes of Mark Waid, Dan Slott, Fred Van Lantem Bendism and a few others. Alot of times, people viewed him as a joke. The last straw was from Waid’s Avengers run and Slott’s continuing series. But, thankfully, Zdarsky showed Peter his strength back to everyone outsmarting them, outmaneuvering them, and outbesting them. 

“Giving him his competence back ”

Again HOW? When he unmasked to Jameson but didn’t to Aunt May? When he needed so much goddam help throughout the series? 

Read what I just wrote

Spencer is the one who gave Spider-Man his competence back! 

Yes, since Zdarsky. And Nick is taking his time to fully give Peter the full recovery he needed since OMD and BND.

“Showing his best use of his strength and intellect ”

Again no he didn’t, what’s on the page and what you saw are totally different here. 

No, he bested TChalla and Hawkeye, bested Tinkerer, bested the Six, had took down Norman, had took the rest of his past Six, had singlehandedly took down The Tinkerer and was hailed a hero, etc. etc. Stuff before Spencer. 

“Face his foes ”

Er…when the Hell was Spider-Man NOT facing his foes. Even Slott had him do that? 

But, they don’t end well. infact, the majority of the time, Peter had looked like a fool and around him from everyone made him look more like a fool. That is until Going Down Swinging which Slott did competently for his final work which is saying something. 

“Overpowered his foes and other heroes ”

Again when the hell did this happen?

TChalla and Hawkeye, The Six, Norman, Tinkerer, the SWAT Team, etc. etc.

“Having some impactful moments with characters like The Tinkerer, Sandman, and his future self ”

Those weren’t impactful moments. Those were unnecessary retcons and poor retreads of better stories. 

Not really. The stuff from Tinkerer was done interestingly as was Teresa. Stories have been known to have Retreads. But, Zdarsky put in Sandman for what might be in store for the future whether the likes of he, Cates, Spencer, or Duggan would want to tackle that story. 

“Showing the use of his responsibilities/ Facing his struggles”

Again other people did this, did this before Zdarsky and did them better. And Peter was fundamentally irresponsible in unmasking to Jameson which is a huge part of Zdarsky’s run. 

Yes, but, the likes of Slott, Waid, Bendis, and a few others had done them poorly. Zdarsky may have had him unmask infront of the oevwe didn’t want. But, it was a start. Plus, there’s also him nearly risking his life for everyone in the SWAT raid, Giving himself up for Aunt May, Saving his sister, teaching his younger self to improve top be a better person and a better hero, told Tinkerer to follow a better path after connecting with him, let Sandman live his final moments while the cops were chasing him even trying to give him one last look before he goes seeing how he viewed Flint as a better person than all the other foes he’s faced, etc. etc.  

“Showing his views under Norman ”

In which he wrote Norman OOC, and it as was an AU version anyway. 

No, Norman didn’t like that two of the Spiders who just showed up defeated him and unmasked him ruining his life like that humiliating him. With that plus the two Spiders, Norman needed answers, felt cheated, and wanted to ruin his life. Even the older version felt fear onto his eyes. 

“All that kinda stuff. And for a while now, he was the first guy who brought Spidey to greatness.”

No. He absolutely wasn’t.

You personally like him and think he’s a great writer, therefore you projected greatness onto his work when it in truth wasn’t there. 

No, there were there. Alot of people even myself Hated his first four to five issues of his run. Then it started to pick up better than we expected since issue 6.

The stuff you’ve listed off either didn’t happen or a re huge reaches or misinterpretations. 

No, not Really. 

Zdarsky for the Jameson and Therewsa thing alone can never ever be regarded as bringing Spider-Man to greatness. At all. 

I’m mostly talking about writing and characterization. Teresa was a nice welcome though.

If he did, why the fuck did we even need Spencer’s reconstruction arcs in ASM? 

Because those weren’t mostly Zdarsky’s plans before he left to do other stuff. Those were mostly Nick Spencer’s. And Zdarsky’s run came out before Sean Ryan took over as well as the arcs  under Slott and before Spencer’s debut. He wanted to make things consistent for the two.

“Now before you say anything. Nick Spencer is great. He does some good stuff.”

Oh are you sure, because earlier you were claiming the fact that his Absolute Carnage tie-ins were the best of the last 5 issues is somehow proof he’s not all that good? 

Because his Absolute Carnage I felt had this big oomph. Had this feel like it was needed all those times ago. Like I could feel his strength rising there and continued rising in his 2099 arc. 

“But, even he has some problems. Like compared to his stuff from Zdarsky and Cates, his quality isn’t even that strong enough.”

Like I said in my prior post, you are smoking something weird if that’s your takeaway. 

No, not really. I know what I’m talking about. 

Like the guy who doesn’t know what the ramifications of Russia nuking part of America in the 1980s would be is stronger than Nick Spencer?

Yeah….okay. 

Alright, Life Story has some issues. But, I could argue that part all day. No, I’m Talking about his PPSM run. 

Having problems is irrelevant. What matters is how many and how big they are. Compared to Zdarsky they pale in comparison. 

Not much in PPSM than in his Life Story at times. 

“ Sure, he had brought back some things people love. But, compared to that, his quality in writing isn’t that strong. Like, he’s mostly holding back on things. Like, for example. His Hunted had a strong beginning and ending. But, it had a pretty weak middle that was holding back on alot of things.”

It’s very interesting you don’t specify what these ‘things’ are? 

Like, there wasn’t much tension brought up when Spidey entered the games along with his foes. Like, there had been a few stuff. But, not enough that felt like a horror survival kind of experience. The stuff were slow and were interuptted. Sure, some moments with Black Ant, Taskmaster, were fine. But, nothing much in writing quality did anything felt horrifying. Like, the HU. chapters were fine being Gibbon being the best one. But, the stuff in quality ended up being good instead of great. The thing that felt more fillerish was The Vulture. In the middle, I don’t feel the strength there until we reached to Peter facing Curt Connors and Kraven. And the Vermin story was a bit bizarre like how he got this way. Sure, the one prior to it was terrifying especially towards the end. But, other than that, the middle wasn’t terrifying or full of stakes like how a horror survival story should be. And the deaths I felt bad. But, they don’t impact me hard as much as Gibbon’s. And besides Hunted, Some of these stuff like Jameson’s revisit and such don’t hit as hard as it should in terms of quality in the middle. The best being the thieves guild. But, the quality in this run needs to hit much harder. And so far, since Issue 29, things are starting to pick up and his 2099 arc see,s to be setting up some harder stuff. 

See my prior post.

“Like, since his first 4-5 issues,he had been holding back for a while.”

How the Hell was his Synidcate story holding back? 

Quality work. Not strong enough. It was good. But, not strong. It was Really enjoyable though. 

How the Hell was issue #29? 

One of the best and strongest

How were the AC issues? 

The strongest so far. 

And if they were hmmmmmmmm I wonder why that could be?

Could it be because he’s prepping MJ for a spin-off, doing a mandated tie-in with Venom and gearing up for a 2099 mega event maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe????????????????? 

Yes, those are it. But, those issues weren’t what I’m talking about. It’s actually stuff with Foswell, Hunted, and such. His strength could grow in 2099. 

“ The only story that had been his strongest was his Absolute Carnage Tie in.”

See my prior post.

“And then for his 2099 stuff it felt like it was picking up more.”

No it didn’t. 

It was just slow, And besides, from what happened to 2099, we already know he wouldn’t meet with Peter immediately before the second part of this arc, It was shown he was stored in Alchemaxz after he CRASH LANDED to a plant unconscious even. So, how would he have the time to meet Peter there? And besides, the stuff with Foreigner, Chameleon, and Sable could result in something. And like the previews said, as Nick Spencer told us, the start of this arc gets to begin in Issue 33 where you see 2099 on the cover. 

“ However, if his stuff continues to hold back especially what’s to come then That’s be a problem.”

WTF is this holding back crap? 

Quality of work. Some impactful stuff. Some Strength. Something for what’s about to come. If there ever was an arc revolving around Norman and his gang, you would hope that Nick Spencer put some strength into this. 

“And before you say anything. No, Zdarsky may have not brought alot of stuff back before Nick Spencer,”

He didn’t have to bring anything back, he just needed to do crappy stories with what he used, new or old. 

Execution begged to differ. 

“but, the thing is that A) His run came out Way before Going Down Swinging happened as well as the ending to Dan Slott’s Run”

What has that got to do with anything?! 

You said Zdarsky didn’t do any of the stuff Nick Spencer did. Well, it’s shown that his run took place BEFORE Going Down Swinging and the beginning of Nick Spencer’s run which show the majority of the stuff compared to Zdarsky.

“and B) His Run took place Way before Nick Spencer started his run.”

Again what has that got to do with anything?!!!!!! 

Read my post before this one.

“Nickhad plans. Chip had a schedule that prevented him from finishing his run before Sean Ryan took over.”

Sean Ryan took over BECAUSE Chip left, not the other way around. Chip could’ve stuck around and done Spider-Geddon tie-ins if he wanted but he didn’t! 

Issue 310 was the perfect sendoff for him though. Sean Ryan just kinda filled in for the ending for this tie in event and did it fine.

“ And Really, outside of Life Story, his Spidey stuff continues to be great in the  Daredevil and Two-In-One.”

Daredevil and M2in1 aren’t Spider-Man. And in them he’s writing Spidey in a limited capacity where it’s hard to screw up because he’s a guest character. 

It’s how you handle the character. Really, guys like Slott, Waoid, Bendis, and a few others had their screw ups for his short appearance. The ones that had the best were Zdarsky, Hickman, and Charles Soule. 

Also isn’t it ‘interesting’ that after months of arguing to the contrary suddenly Life Story actually wasn’t great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????? 

Like O said, I know Life Storytn had some problems and I know you wouldn’t accept when I bring up Life Story. But, his PPSM run was a different story. 

“So, while Nick Spencer had some good stuff. There’s no denying he has some problems when it comes to holding things back.”

There is 100% denying he has problems when it comes to holding back considering you’ve never said WHAT he’s holding back on! 

Read my stuff, 

“Because if he continues to hold back,he either needs a co-writer or needs to not hold back on things.”

What. Are. You. Talking. About??????????

“A d honestly, I don’t think you could pretend we didn’t have a great Spider-Man run until Nick Spencer took over when Really his stuff had been shown to hold back and not be up to par with other Spider-Man writers.”

*rolls eyes*

I don’t have to pretend things that are true.

And I’m not sitting here telling you he’s on Dematteis or Stern’s level. Hell HE probably wouldn’t even say that. 

You’d probbly sound like he almost did if you think Chip’s work didn’t exist before. 

But that’s not what you are really saying.

What you are really trying to say is Zdarsrky was great and greater than Spencer. Which isn’t true on either count. 

Quality of work, yes. But, I’m saying is that you can’t ignore the stuff Zdarsky brought after all this time suffering from the hands of Waid, Bendis, Slott, and a few others. Some doing no service before he came along. What I’m also saying is that I like Nick Spencer. I love the things he brought for us. But, I want him to be a stronger writer on this run. Otherwise, if he keeps holding back to what’s to come, then the whole service would be for nothing. We like things back. But, we need better quality at the same time. 

“What he needs is that strength. And compared to his work from Zdarsky and Donny Cates, Nick is not quite up there yet until otherwise.”

See my prior posts. Your abilities to critically analyse are shit. 

Not really. I was hoping you’d get things and see where I’m coming from. Clearly you don’t. But, I hope you do.

[akamaru01]

Ya know what I didn’t want to really get into the shit show that is the discussion on the Sonic movie but here we are

I’m gonna try and make this like an analysis, what it looks like happened in chronological order, and what the hell is going on and maybe a bit on how people are reacting

For a bit more info on me I am currently a studying 3D artist because I will get a bit technical at times

I’ll also put it under a read more because not everyone wants to see it so HERE WE GO starting off with where I think shit went wrong in production (Spoiler: People high up on the food chain probably fucked up big time and interfered too much)

(Note: This will be mainly about the design, not about story)

So obviously as with everything it begins with the original designs made by a character designer. Now from what I have seen the studio actually doing all the CG work for the movie also worked on the cinematics for Sonic Unleashed that released back in 2008. Love or hate the game, you can’t deny that it looked and felt like Sonic. So clearly the studio itself knows what it’s doing.

However, the movie might be made with Sega helping (maybe) on the sideline but the production is controlled by Paramount. That means everything goes through Hollywood Big Wig Executives who probably don’t care about source material and also have no creative abilities and also don’t listen to anyone besides themselves and their investors. SO here is a very short, exaggerated idea of the conversations surrounding the design.

Exec: Hey we’re making a Sonic the Hedgehog movie so make us a Sonic that can fit in a live action movie.

Designer: Okay here you go he looks like regular Sonic but with some texture/material/fur touch ups to look more real

Exec: Too cartoony/Not real enough/Something something make it more like humanoid

Designer: But if we do that it wont look like Sonic, might be too creepy or weird, just looks weird/bad in general

Exec: I can have you fired

Designer: Here it is but people won’t like it

Exec: Yes they will, now get to work and make some posters people will love it (or not, it’s hard to say if they would really care as long as people see the movie and it makes money)

You get the idea. This probably continues all throughout production, maybe eventually they give up trying to change minds or they’re just too tired or it’s too late who knows.

So the posters come out and oh boy they were a thing that exists now

And so people do the thing and dunk on the look of it, get in their criticisms, which I think criticising or not liking something is well within peoples rights ya know?

At this point maybe the conversation comes back something like this

Artists: Yo we told you people wouldn’t like this let’s change it while we’re still relatively early in production (mabey) and can adjust it and not spend months with actual animating/lighting,post production

Execs: No no this is fine who cares it’s not even moving yet it’ll be fine

Artists: No it won’t

Execs: Jobs

Artists: Fuck, alright

So nothing changes, time passes, and here we are and by the way

Trailer editor: Hey for the background music I am thinking something upbeat and fun like the Sonic music from the games

Execs: No no make it edgy and cool like Gangsters Paradise

Editor: .... fucking why

So we got the Sonic trailer drop and guess what everyone dunked on like this isn’t even a shock at this point people analyze and criticise fucking everything (especially 3D) this time it just so happened to be on a massive fucking scale

So from a personal note my reaction was “This looks like shit I ain’t gonna bother with it”. From what I saw the general consensus’ were either basically what I said or “This looks like shit I’m gonna watch it anyway”. Absolutely no one I saw said “This needs to be fixed before the movie comes out” from what I saw people basically were just ready for it to flop and we’ll try again later. Even if some people were calling for a redesign I doubt even they expected what was coming next

So, this seems to be what ended up happening

Execs: -trailer release-

Internet: Yo this looks like shit wtf

Execs: Oh shit we fucked up

Internet: Yeah you did

Execs: Don’t worry we’ll fix this

Internet & Artists: What

Execs: We’ll overhaul and redesign him before the movie releases as scheduled

Everyone else: WHAT 

Because here is what that means. The artists and animators will have to redesign (or maybe go back to an old design), adjust the model or maybe worse completely redo it, change textures, possibly adjust or recreate the rig, REANIMATE ALMOST IF NOT EVERYTHING, adjust lighting, re combine the new CG footage with the live action, make sure it all looks good and no clipping

What’s most likely is that this is gonna be hell for the studio leading up to release if they don’t delay the movie, which they have not said anything about yet and that’s not a good sign. 

But now here is where the biggest variable comes in: How much will change?

Minor changes that don’t affect overall proportions and placement of details means they could keep the same rig and animations and just check for touch ups. HOWEVER these kind of minor changes probably won’t help much, if at all. Honestly besides textures and small changes to fur the only thing that can really be adjusted without much worry is the teeth because they can be the same size and they don’t have to deform or do a lot of crazy movement.

But in order to fix any of the actual problems with it, besides teeth, will require a crap ton more work. Any changes to the eye shapes, sizes or placement, and any changes to the mouth and surrounding areas will require a new or heavily adjusted face rig, which will completely throw off eye movements and lip syncs and those will need to be redone.

Any changes to proportions of any kind will require an adjustment of the rig, which could throw off the animations already set and need to rework them almost everywhere, and maybe redo them completely in a worst case scenario. If the hands change at all they have to adjust every single shot where he is holding or touching something, same with his feet, and really same with his head, quills, freaking everything.

All this in 6 months? Doable, but not without a fuck ton of unnecessary sacrifice.

But we don’t know what this redesign will look like, so it’s impossible to speculate on how much these artists and workers are going to be fucked over and pushed and destroyed for this.

Basically, odds are the artists are gonna be the ones paying for the mistake of those higher up on the food chain, and if the movie does well then, similar to what recently happened with game studio Bioware, they’re going to think “Oh it’s okay that it’s all shit for so long and then we push and destroy our artists at the last minute because it works” which it fucking doesn’t. If they had listened to their people at the beginning, this could have been avoided. No matter what some people still would have been like “ew 3D sonic live action” but no where near this degree.

So the final thing to touch on is some of the reactions after the announcement of redesign. Because I have seen... a lot. All across the spectrum.

I am going to try and talk about some of the more basic groups that these reactions fall under that I’ve seen.

Before we get into those though I want to say something that kind of applies to all of them: I think criticizing the design and look is okay. Talking about how you don’t like it and why and how it could be better is good, outside of ya know the extreme stuff like death threats or whatever, not that I’ve seen those really around this project but they probably exist.

So the first one is basically where I stand on the issue personally. The design sucked, they should have listened more and let it be more stylized and it still would have fit (because suspension of disbelief is a thing and what they have now certainly doesn’t fit in any more than regular Sonic would). I expected them to release it, it flops, no more Sonic movies for a while. If they were gonna fix it they should have done it a long time ago. I am not happy that they are going to punish their staff and artists for their own mistakes and now they’re trying to cover it up.

Now the next argument is one I have seen around here and there, and I understand it, but don’t completely agree. It’s the argument that we, as a collective group, complained about the design, and now we are at fault that the artists have to redo it. There is some truth that if the internet did not go “This sucks” then it would be over and it would have gone on to release as planned. Personally though, I feel like this takes away 2 things: 1) The right of consumers to dislike a thing and 2) The blame away from the executives who made the decisions not only about the initial design but also to change it so late in production. Should they not be held accountable as well? There is a piece that occasionally goes along with this along the lines of “You’re getting so wrapped in a kids movie” or something like that but like: This might (?) be a kids movie but really the target audience is largely the adults who grew up with Sonic. Also bad is bad and kids movies can be great they don’t have to be trash and also kids movies can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

There are smaller sections of discussion, usually quickly stamped out, about how “They fucked it up this is their fault” placing blame on the artists, but this usually comes from a place of ignorance and not knowing how the process works and who makes all the final decisions. The other side of that is “Whatever it’s gonna be shit no matter what I am/am not gonna watch it regardless” or “Idk looks fun I’ll watch it either way”.

To basically sum it up The people in charge probably fucked up, people rightly were like “Lol look at this shit” and now those same higher ups are gonna overwork the artists to fix their own mistake

[wingsoverbros]

Wait... where did the time go?

For season 12: For previous episodes: 12.01 - 12.02 - 12.03 - 12.04 - 12.05 - 12.06 - 12.07 - 12.08 - 12.09 - 12.10 - 12.11 - 12.12 - 12.13 - 12.14 - 12.15 - 12.16 - 12.17 - 12.18 - 12.19 - 12.20 - 12.21 - 12.22 - 12.23 

So, at the end of last season, I wrote that I intended to write a season-wide review. Frustratingly, personal issues prevented me from being able to finish a post on the matter. So this will have to do. On the plus side, it's being written off my notes from the attempt, so it should cover most of the same points the other one would.

Note: If I run out of time, this will be posted without all the links. I’ll fix it as soon as possible.

Tonight, the first episode of season 13 starts. Here's hoping the season turns out better then season 12 ended up being.

Season 12 started out well, with more good episodes then bad ones, but the quality degraded quickly - especially after the midpoint of the season. Dabb, the new showrunner, resorted to bad habits when the stress of running the season cranked up, and the result was wobbly character development resulting in our loss of a number of fabulous characters in horrible ways.

Character treatment:

In the review of 12.01, I said that I hoped the way that Lady Toni and the girl heavy of the British Mol were a sign that the women would be better treated this year. Clearly, with 12.23 and the wrap-up of the second half of the season, this was not the case.

For the most part, women got abandoned or remained cardboard cut-outs during the year, in favor of male characters. And most of those were straight and white. Most disappointing.

It's not every day that a show that focuses on the everyday actions of a collection of (mostly) straight white male hunters fighting a lot of supernatural monsters creates a deep and relatible character who occupies the position of "other". Sadly, when this show does that, it tends to get rid of them shortly afterward. Examples include: Charlie, who was not only a woman but a member of the GLBTQIA+ community, was subsequently killed off in the shower by a pro-Nazi torture fan. Deputy Jenna Nickerson, another member of the GLBTQIA+ community and a member of law enforcement who faced down rage zombies, only to get eaten by Gods sister. Dorathy Baum, a kickass hunter who promptly vanished into Oz without a trace. Ceaser and Jesse Cuevas, a multi-racial pair of married gay hunters, promptly sailed into the sunset to retire on a dude ranch off screen (and I hope they live in safety forevermore, even if that means they never come back). This season was particularly bad in terms of loss of "the other", as a massive load of characters found themselves on the wrong side of a knife (or whatever):

1. One of the few WoC currently active in the show, the Reaper Billie, was placed in a Sophies choice moment, practically neccessitating her death. And despite giving us a lovely monolog from Cas, the death was solely to give our emotionally-constipated heroes additional motives for angst.

2. Rowena - A fabulous character who kicked ass all season, holding her own against all other characters in the first half of the season. She was particularly awesome in 12.08 and that... then abruptly, she went downhill, acting out of character in 12.13 before vanishing into thin air and being murdered in a spectacularly nasty fashion off-screen in the season finale.

3. Eileen, the only known deaf hunter, who was kickass enough to hunt alone, but who not only was killed by the absolutely cheap manner of being killed by an invisible dog aimed by a misogynistic bastard refugee of a james bond film, but was also slandered by the writers of the episode, who made a big deal of badmouthing the idea of being feminine. They wrote her fairly well up to that point, but writing her more in-character then they usually do in episode 12.17 doesn't make up for the way they treated her in episode 12.22, especially as it was solely for the benefit of providing Sam with angst material.

4.  Kelly - aka The Disposable woman or "The Container" - a woman who seemed to exit solely as a walking, talking MacGuffin

5. Both Alicia Barnes and her mother Tasha, also known as the only two remaining WoC on the show. The twin, Max, promptly disappeared with a twig-doll of Alicia, making it a triple-loss of diverse characters.

6. Lady Toni and her henchwoman - At least the henchwoman got to die standing and fighting. Lady Toni spent the season looking increasingly helpless, despite being presented as a treat in the first few episodes of the season, being pushed out of the spotlight by a nutjob James Bond imitation with an obsession for Mary. Lady Toni went out with a whimper, dying off-screen. I may not have liked her much, but she deserved better.

It wasn't just the woman getting killed off that I thought were mistreated, either. Mick started out looking kinda shifty, but I loved that Mick turned out to be as helpful and friendly as he first tried to appear in 12.02. His path of personal growth though his attempts to learn and adapt to hunting in America in 12.16 + felt organic and natural. He's actually one of the few people introduced (and subsequently killed) this season that I'll miss, right next to Alicia Barnes and her mother. Kelly, although nice enough, felt so doomed from the start that I never even bothered to get attached like I did to the others.

Luckily, a few made it out of the season alive. Hopefully, if we see them again, Max Barnes and Lily Sunder continue being fantastic characters.

The main characters and their family, friends and even their enemies had an eventful season as well.

In 12.03, in regards to Dean, I wrote "He’s gonna have some serious issues this season. I can already see it coming." and I was right. Dean spent the season wrestling with abandonment from all of his loved ones: Mary to independence and the Mol, Sam following the same path a few episodes later, and Cas to Baby Jack at the end of the season. Each path led to pain and death and loss, sometimes for bystanders, sometimes for those specific characters. Considering how the season ended, it'll be interesting how the events of the season will effect how Dean reacts to people and events in season 13, especially the beings like Jack, who was intimately involved in the events that cost Dean his loved ones. Hopefully, the hints of character development that both Dean and Sam showed last season - thanking Crowley in 12.15, Dean agreeing to work with the MOL with a minimum of fuss, Sam telling the truth about working with the MOL immediately, planning to talk with Cas and figure out his motives instead of just walking in and hitting him - make an appearance quickly in the new season.

Cas had one hell of a season last year. For most of the season, he has a constant thread of caring for the Winchesters so much that he auto-loves and protects Mary, even when she shreds him (in episode 9) and makes poor decisions to try to protect them all (killing Billie the Reaper and stealing he Colt to attempt to kill Kelly). Then, he just suddenly loses it and abandons them, a story-line that lead inevitably to his completely unnecessary (and rather cruel to the fan-base) death? It'll be interesting to see what happens when he comes back, and what it does to the Guys. But can we start being better on the poor Angel, Show? He's been through enough.

Crowley was lost this season - likely permanently, considering the actor finding a new job and his response to the teasing of the fan-base - but I can't say it upsets me too much. He had a bit of an uneven path this season, throwing himself wholeheartedly into stopping and caging Luci, only to lose the brownie points in an incredibly ill-advised attempt to turn Luci into his own guard dog. He kills himself in an attempt to make up for it, making a character that spent the season seemingly useless into an eventual vital tool. It's a good end point for the character. He'll have a spot on the "ended well" wall with Meg, but I can live with never seeing him again.

Mary was an interesting character to include last year. She started out so well, but got so complicated by the end of the season. I still hope that she turns out well, especially since her character affects the others strongly, but at the moment, it's hard to tell where they're going wih her. It's amusing how much of her character that the guys know has been shown to be inaccurate because it was filtered through biased points of view, and that her character is actually a mirrored reflection of Dean. It makes me wonder what John thought of Dean as he grew and displayed more and more of Mary's characteristics. Did that hurt? Considering his less-then-attentive parenting style, did he even notice?

Considering her hunting skills and her tendency to go it alone, I'm sure she'll be ok in the AU world, and I doubt she'll be gone for long. Hopefully, she doesn't get splattered with too much mud and blood, either literally or figuratively.

I loved how much Jody, Donna, Alex and Claire appeared in season 12, both in literally appearances and in reference. I especially enjoyed how each time, they were shown or referred to as living their lives, rich and detailed three-dimensional characters that feel real. It's clear now that the reasoning for it was their attempts to set-up for the episodes that will launch "Wayward Sisters", the spin-off series featuring the characters, but I'm not complaining. The more strong female characters the better, and I'm really looking forward to that spin-off.

There were some interesting threads I can see continuing into season 13 -

One big one was on the nature of Trust. It was a big plot point in season 12, from the tenuous threads of trust that Mary and the guys had to develop quickly and then quickly found strained (12.14), Mary's quick acceptance of and attempts to trust Cas (12.10), the attempts of Mick to gain the trust of the Winchesters, much to his eventual detriment (12.16, 12.17), and the actual distinct lack of such among the real members of the MOL (12.14). With next season set to feature Jack and the building of his personality and the "Is he good or bad? Can we control him?" story-line, I can see the matter of trust being easily the most prominent continuing thread.

Another running theme of season 12 was wither or not monsters could be rehabilitated or should just be put down. The eventual theory the show seemed to put forward was that it depended entirely on the circumstances surrounding the monster: how they were made, wither they intended to hurt people in the first place, how they were treated afterward, and the surrounding issues still not dealt with. Results varied, especially depending on who you asked. Some that went well, like Claire's brief spin as a werewolf in 12.16, but were only truly saved by their cure. What were at first successful rehabilitation, like Magda in 12.04, went bad thanks to less forgiving foes. And the fate of some monsters are yet to be determined, like the unfortunate turning of Alicia Barnes into a twig-Doll in 12.20. I can see this thread being one of the ones that run strongly through season 13, with the rather thorny issue of Jack and his "is he bad? Who does he take after more, his mom or his dad?" problem, especially when faced with a Winchester brother on each side of the Monster treatment spectrum.

On the "not so good" side are the dropped threads in the season. There were a lot more of these then I'm really comfortable with.

There were a number of highly illogical character issues. The 2 biggest examples?

Lucifer. The Angel of Music in lore, who can't sing or play anything, who smokes when he touches holy objects (despite having a lot in his crypts and not having the smoking issue with the "Hands of God" last year) and who doesn't know how to pray... despite being an angel. Plus, supposedly not having had sex before, despite all the sex comments to Sam, and Lilith and the other demons being so sex-centered. Also, not sending the SS straight to the Bunker, despite knowing right where it is. (see 12.08) Frankly, he's the ultimate one-note character. No matter what happens, he always reverts to "must destroy the world to piss off Dad." Really? There's no character development for the Father of Lies? Yet *he* is the one continuing Bad Guy. Why?

 the Nephilim details... which contradict each other, both from season to season and *inside this season* (again, see 12.08) Is it too much to ask for the writers to check Superwiki? The season did a great job referencing past continuity on many fronts, which makes the Nephilim really stand out as an error.

the human-trapping sigil in 12.02. That literally never came up again. Why not? The Mol certainly could have used it in later episodes.

Benny - they never said how the MoL know about him, especially since some of their other info has been shown to be inaccurate.

The Bunker keys - If the MOL still existed for all this time, and the bunker keys open "every chapter house in the world", then how the hell are all those valuable old records still in the bunker in the first place? Why did the "old men" in charge never empty the place of anything valuable long before now? And why do you attach exterior controls for everything on the *outside* of something to be used as a safe-house, but no interior emergency exits? Who designed that place, the Vault builders of the Fallout games?

Will Dean ever notice Ketch stole his pic of Mary in 12.18? After all, he doesn't have Mary now, and that pic was the only one of her. Or did Sam find it in 12.22?

Government - An entire secret base dies, and nothing?

For that matter, the massive death toll from the MoL school went completely ignored, which was completely illogical. Hopefully, it gets addressed in future seasons.

What happens to the MoL? And they spent the season being completely unreasonable. They ended seemingly unworried about the size and logistic issues of the difference between the US and the UK.

Why was Mick using a magic typewriter in one episode, then every other time, both he and the MOL were technologically savvy? Personal quirk? Or writing goof?

Interviews and spoilers hint that Cas's current location is, in fact, a part of the "Cosmic Consequences", and it seems confirmed that Cas is indeed in the "Big Empty" as a result. Since it's been said that he' not alone, then whom is he with? And how much are we going to see? We know he gets out in episode 6 or so, but is the time in the Big Empty going to be like Hell or Cas' Human plot-line, both plots we only ever saw brief bits of and generally ignored? Or more like Purgatory, which went longer via flashbacks and was far more involved?

In 12.19, I wrote -  "There’s only 4 official Princes/Princesses on the list, and the Winchesters and Allies are directly responsible for the deaths of 3 of them, so we’ve only 1 more chance to find out. (If I were Asmodeus, I’d be going into hiding.)" - Asmodeus is now the Big Bad of season 13, new King of Hell. So, I guess not, then. I hope he's gotten his affairs in order.

In an attempt to end on a good note, I enjoyed the tendency of the season to sprinkle in old canon. There was a lot of it in season 12, and since we already know Missouri Mosely will be in the first few episodes, I'm hoping it will continue in the next season.

Despite the downgrade in last season quality, I'm looking forward to next season, for Cas, for the Scoobie Doo episode, and for the Wayward Sisters launch if nothing else. Hopefully, the season will give us more to enjoy then just that.

-

I'll try to get my writer score-card finished and posted soon. It'll be interesting to see if the ones on the top of my list (Berens, Yokey, and Glynn) continue to soar high, and if the middling ones (Dabb and Perez) improve. I've lost hope for Buckleming.

See you here for the review of 13.01 in a few days.